Family Portrait
by Jakia
Summary: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PINK'S SONG!! Harry Potter has never met his grandfather. With good reason, too. He's a Death Eater. But when he finds the grandson he never knew he had, will he give it all up to save him? Epilogue is up. Please R/R.
1. Richard's Musing

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything.

A/N: This is a weird fic that came to me while I was having Thanksgiving with the family.  I bet it's been done before, I just haven't found that fic.  

Summary: Harry Potter has never met his grandfather.  With good reason, too.  He's a Death Eater.  But when he finds the grandson he never knew he had, will he give up everything to protect him?

Family Portrait

Prologue: Richard musing

J-chan

How was I supposed to know her last name was Potter? 

Better yet, how was I supposed to know she had a son? My son, to be exact.

            How was I supposed to guess that, on one lonely night, in the middle of a pub, twenty years ago, would have the sort of effect it did.  How was I supposed to know that one of the most famous wizards in all of history is my grandson? How was I supposed to know that I helped cause my own son's death?

Best question yet: Why am I blaming myself?

            My name is Richard Patterson, the father of James Potter, the grandfather of Harry Potter, and the biggest supporter Lord Voldermort has.  I'm more of Tom's right hand man than any of the others can imagine.  I was Tom Riddle's best friend in Hogwarts, which is how this tale begins.  

            Every good story begins at Hogwarts.  I can't think of one that doesn't.  Anyways, I was a young Gryffindor–young, with dashing black hair, beautiful hazel eyes, and large geeky glasses.  I was a Seeker, and I was popular.  Perhaps most popular for something most people don't know.  I was Tom Riddle's best friend.  

            Don't ask me how we met, because frankly, I think I've forgotten.  All I can really remember is feeling sorry for him, sneaking into the Slytherin common room to apologize, and from that moment on, we were inseparable.  We were the talk of the town: Never before had a Slytherin and a Gryffindor been such good friends.  And we were.  We told each other secrets.  I was there when he needed me, and he was there for me.  He even taught me Parseltongue, something I was amazed to learn.  We even found out about our ancestors, which is probably why we stuck together so closely.  My pure blood family goes back so far, I found out that I was the Heir of Gryffindor.  I knew this, knew it all my life.  It was something my mum had told me.  But the crazy part was that he was the Heir of Slytherin.  And so, from then on, we were determined.  We were going to be the greatest sorcerers in the world...And we were.

            Of course, I was still popular after Hogwarts, where as Tom wasn't.  I was a Seeker for England.  They said that I had been born with the Snitch in my hand.  A little bit of an exaggeration, but it made you feel good all the same.  I can't remember how many times I had begged Tom to leave his Dark Arts ritual, if just for a day, to come and watch a good ol' game of Quidditch.  He never did, and so that left me alone, going to pubs as often as I did.  One night, I saw her.

            'Her' being Faith Potter.  I hadn't known her well.  She was one of those girls who followed guys like me everywhere.  She and I had been in the same year, and both of us in Gryffindor.  But, England had won the Quidditch World Cup, and so we were all drunk as fools, and did a tiny bit of things we shouldn't have done.  

Well, it was tiny for everyone else.  It was something huge for me.  I had a son.

            Yeah.  Can you believe it?  Me, Richard Patterson, wild Quidditch star and all around drop dead gorgeous man, with a son?  Crazy, isn't it?  Worst part of it is that the bitch died giving birth, and her selfish brother never told me about...him.

            Him...James.  That was his name.  James Kyle Potter.  I hate the name.  It's too common, just like Richard.  For a wizard with James' decedent, he deserved an extraordinary name, like, I don't know, Merlin or something.  Not James–stupid Muggle name...

            By the time I had actually met James, he was already out of Hogwarts and married.  He didn't have Harry yet, thankfully.  Of course, I couldn't spend my whole life getting killed by rouge bludgers and racing on a broomstick...I was far too intelligent to do that.  But yet I wasn't stupid enough to tell everyone that I was Tom Riddle... pardon me, Voldermort's supporter.  So I was a Ministry official most days, and I was famous once more.  

            No one had ever put two and two together, not even me.  No one had figured out that old, charming Tom Riddle was the wizard everyone feared.  And no one seemed to figure out that the familiar, always happy James Potter was the son of legendary Quidditch star Richard Patterson.  I didn't even figure that one out...

What was that?  Oh...how did I find out that James was my son?  That, my friend, is a good question.  Perhaps I'll answer it soon.  But right now I must go.  I am being needed.


	2. Meet Harry

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything.

A/N: OMG!! I put this up at 7:00 a.m., and when I checked it at 8:00 a.m., I had three reviews!  I won't keep you waiting, my faithful friends! Two people told me they haven't seen the same idea before, but the other did.  But I'm still continuing because I have a wicked ending in mind. Please enjoy part two!  Read and review if you want the next chapter up!

Family Portrait

Chapter One: Meeting Harry

J-chan

            Did I tell you I was famous?  Well, I was.  I even have one of those wizard card things with me on it.  Here, I'll show you:

Richard Patterson (1968-present)

Mr. Patterson is a famous Quidditch star.  When he finished

playing Quidditch for English Eagles, the British never won

another game.  After he quit Quidditch, he started making 

his own brooms, particularly very good ones like the Nimbus

brand and the all new Firebolt. Mr. Patterson is also a famous

Auror Trainer, teaching young Aurors how to defend themselves

against the Dark Lord's powers.  

            Now, before you begin asking, why would a Death Eater be a Auror Trainer, think about it. Think about the logic that all goes into it, and then you'll find your answer.  

            It was when I was an Auror Trainer when I first met James.  At the time, I didn't know he was my son.  Never crossed my mind that he could be.  However, I did notice how similar we were.  A strange similarity, too.  He was determined to destroy Tom, where as I was sworn to protect him.  He was powerful, too.  Too damn powerful for his own good.  It made him arrogant, much like how I am.  He and his friends had the curiosity of a cat, and the money to pull anything off.  They wanted to be Aurors, and I taught them the opposite.  I was particularly fond of the one named Remus Lupin.  He seemed to be a nice kid where everything that could go wrong to him did.  I was easier on him than the others.  

That's how I met James.  As for Harry, that's a completely different story.

            As I told you a million and one times before, I love Quidditch.  So naturally, when the Quidditch World Cup was held in Britain, I went.  And I saw him.  

            He was just fourteen at the time.  Young, powerless, and so very well protected.  (Mind you, I didn't know I was his grandfather.) How I wanted to kill the child, end it all right there.  But it would've been too obvious if I killed him there.  I needed strategy.  So I came up with a plan.  Barty Crouch would apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts that year, and hopefully kill the boy.  When he failed, Tom thought there wasn't much else we could do at Hogwarts.  He was wrong.  

            I applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.  I was hired.  I was Professor Patterson, and from then on, I would watch over young Harry Potter.  Of course, at that time I had forgotten exactly how smart Ablus Dumbledore was, and how easy it was for him to have a trick up his sleeve.

***

            Most teachers flew on a broom to get to Hogwarts.  Others hired a cartage to take them to the school.  But I had planned to take the Knight Bus, and so I did. As I rode, I tried to work on a lesson plan, but couldn't.  My mind seemed to wander elsewhere.  I had my heart set on a mission.  Sometime during the year, I was going to kill Harry Potter.  

            When I got there, the train had not gotten there yet.  It gave me a few seconds to talk to a few of my new colleges–I couldn't help but notice that Minerva McGonagall was a Transfiguration teacher.  She had been in my year, so you could say we knew each other.  So was Saria Sprout.  (A/N: Do the books give Sprout a first name?  I didn't notice one, so I made one up.) A few of the others I noticed as well.  Serveus Snape was a potions teacher, where he was once a Death Eater.  I shuddered a bit, because I was afraid he might have recognized me and told me out.  But he didn't, thankfully.  There was also Professor Binns, who, when he taught me, was still alive.  Hagrid was there.  He didn't seem too fond of me at first, because I was Tom's best bud, but he lightened up when the students arrived.  We sat there, I myself chatting uncontrollably to Minerva, who seemed to blush when I told her she looked good in green.  She stopped, however, when Ablus gave her the signal to hit her small glass. 

            "Attention please.  Professor Dumbledore wishes to say a few words before the feast."  She said, and she turned to Ablus.  He stood up soundlessly.  

            "First, I would like to introduce our newest member to the staff.  May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Patterson."  He said, and I smiled soundly at the students.  Most of the pure borns had known who I was, and looked at me as though I had three heads or something.  I couldn't help but notice a red haired boy–Weasley, I believe–talking to Harry and this other girl about me.  I chuckled silently.  Best have a reputation at first, rather than gain one later.  

            "I would also like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is still forbidden to all students, no matter what.  Mr. Flich has also been kind enough to tell me to remind you that can go to Hogsmeade that there are a few items that are not allowed on school grounds. The list can be found in Mr. Flich's office, so I hope many of you will take a look at that."  He said, eyeing two other boys near Harry whom I presumed to be the red head's brothers. They smiled innocently at Dumbledore, as if he was insane for accusing them.  

            The feast had been as magnificent as I remembered.  Chicken, roast beef, corn casserole, and much more yummy stuff.  The children seemed to be enjoying the feast as much as I was.  Little did I know, this would be one of the last feast I ever had.


	3. The Report

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything.

A/N: THANK YOU, REVIEWERS!!! I have a wonderful idea for the ending, so keep reviewing and you'll get it!  This chapter is going to be longer, hopefully, than the others.  And we talk to Harry!

Family Portrait

Chapter Two: The Report

J-Chan

Late...

            Teachers are not supposed to be late.  That's the students job.  They are supposed to be late, come in mumbling some lie as for why their tardy, and I get to take off house points.  It's not the other way around.  But after, oh what's their names, Fred and George turned my hair pink, I wasn't exactly going to let them have the joy of me walking around all day like this.  Nope, I went to the bathroom and did a simple spell to take the pink out, though it was difficult, seeing as the pink stuff was sticky.  Of, course, instead of detention, they will find a nicely placed, loaded Wizcracker, (A toy from Zoinks, I assure you.) That will blow up when they get to their next class.

            Revenge didn't change the fact that I was late.  What would Tom say?  He would laugh, finding it incredibly funny that I was late for my first day of teaching.  Minerva would look at me with disgrace, but end up laughing in the end.  Saria Sprout would probably laugh as well.  Oh well.  

            I stood at the door, my hand trembling.  Would I open the door to find the students in an uproar, throwing loose parchment and spit wads all over the place?  Probably, but if that's what they were doing, they were doing it very quietly, because not a sound was coming from inside the door.  

            I opened the door silently, looking around.  Not a sound was being made.  No one was standing up, nor were they talking even.  Everyone was sitting at their desks quietly, quill in hand and parchment on the desk.  Crouch must have scared the kids last year, because I would have never expected fifth year Gryffindors to be so quiet.  If they stayed like this for the next two hours, I might enjoy this. (They had Double Defense Against the Dark Arts.) 

            "You are the fifth years, right?" I said, gaining the attention of the entire class.  A very nervous boy shook his head, as did the others.  A few peered under their desks, grabbing their books.

            "You won't be needing those." I said, and the class looked at me funny.  "I don't teach with a book.  I teach with an open mind, and books require too much organization.  However, as a teacher I am required to put a book on the list, so I told Albus to pick the cheapest thing in Flourish and Blots.  I want, at the end of the year, for all of you to sell me all the books double the price, meaning you'll get more money."  I said, and a red haired boy, probably a retaliative to Fred and George, smiled.  

            "Now, seeing as it's the first day of classes, and your stuck with me for two hours, I figure I'll spend the first day just getting to know each other.  My name is Richard Patterson, and I want you to call me Richard, not Professor Patterson.  It makes me feel too old."  I said, and the class looked either excited or worried.  A girl near Harry had a disapproving look, much similar to the way I pictured Minerva with.  

            "And secondly, I love Quidditch.  My weakness is Quidditch.  I'll be at every Quidditch game, and maybe even every Quidditch practice.  I was a Seeker for England many years back.  Tell me, who in here plays Quidditch?"  I asked, and Harry was the only one to raise his hand.  I smiled.

            "What position?" I asked, sitting on my desk, looking at my grandson in the front row.  He smiled back, his glasses falling to the tip of his nose.

            "Seeker."  He said, and I smiled widely.  Always good to have another seeker to talk to. 

            "Really!  Tell me, what sort of broom do you have?" I asked, and he replied with a "Firebolt."  My smile got larger, and I probably would have sat here all day talking about Quidditch if it hadn't been for the fact that the rest of the class was looking at me in awe. 

            "See, Quidditch is a weakness of mine.  But, as I always feel, it's good to have a weakness, keeps the rest of you in order.  Now, starting with our Seeker here, I'm going to go around the room, and your going to tell me your name, and a little bit about yourself."  I said, and I pointed to Harry.  He really didn't want to do this, but I was going to make him anyway.

            "Go on, Seeker." I said, and he smiled.  I motioned for him to stand, and he did. 

            "My name is Harry Potter." He said, expecting me, I guess, to be startled.  I wasn't.  I sat on top of my desk, shaking my head, telling him to go on.  He hadn't expected that one.

            "I love Quidditch...and, um...What else do you want me to say?" He asked, and I shook my head.  I laughed silently at him.  He really didn't want to do this.

            "Tell me who your friends are, what class you like, and anything else that sort of comes out at the moment." I said.  He looked at me funny, and then turned to his right at the red head.

            "This is Ron Weasley, he's my best friend," Harry said, and then he turned to the girl  beside him.  "And this is Hermione Granger, my other best friend." He said, and I looked at him, with a look in my eye telling him to go on.  "I like Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms." He said, and I smiled. 

            "Good, but class, try to say more than Harry did." I said, and Harry sat himself down.  I watched him silently, and then I said something.

            "Potter, if you do come across the Dark Lord this year, mind you, or anything else that revolves around it, you don't have to do your homework for my class." I said, and a few kids gave me a glare, like Harry was going to be my favorite.  Probably. 

            "Right.  Now, Ron, is it? Your turn." I said, and the red head stood up, not for sure what to say.

            "Um...My name is Ron Weasley, and..." 

            "Arthur Weasley's son?" I asked, and he shook his head yes. "I'm guess Fred and George are your brother, right?"  He shook his head yes, and gave me a look as to ask why I cared.

            "Uh, your brothers were kind enough to turn my hair electric pink, which is why I was late to class.  If they ask who put a Wizcracker in their backpacks, I have no idea." I said, and smiled, telling the class that I was the one to do it.  

            The rest of the class was enjoyable.  I walked around the room, getting to know the students, knowing their names and their friends and what they enjoyed doing. The class ended entirely too soon, though.  Before I knew it, the two hours were up and the class was going.  I could help but hear a few students talking about me.  I managed to catch the one Harry said with ease: "We haven't had that good of a Defense teacher since Professor Lupin..." 

***

Now moving on to something more interesting, about two months later...

            Most teachers spent the rest of the day after teaching in their offices, doing lesson plans or writing up detentions, sometimes with kids who have detention.  I, however, was in the library.  I felt there needed to be a teacher in there with them, to help the kids with their homework.  I would have loved it, when I was in school, for a teacher to be there, helping us with our homework.  So I decided I would play the favorite teacher role, and roam the library to help the students.  Then I came across Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all having difficultly with something.  How did I know that? Put it to you like this, Ron doesn't swear that often, and he was cussing up a storm, muttering something about Binns and history not being important and other things like that.

            "You should hold your tongue, Weasley." I said, and he looked at as if I had been Professor Dumbledore telling him he was expelled.  Harry laughed at Ron, and Hermione gave him a cold look and said something like "Told you so."

            "Your not in trouble, Ron.  I don't like giving detentions and I don't fancy giving you one for a few swear words. However, might I warn you that almost all of the library can hear you, and that some of the Prefects aren't as lenient as I am?"  He said, and Ron's ears went pink.  Harry busted into laughter.

            "Besides, what's the problem?" I asked, leaning over Harry's shoulder, looking at the book he had.

            "Professor Binns is the problem, Richard." (Remember, no Professor Patterson.) "He assigned us a report, and it's due Christmas! Ten rolls of parchment!" Ron screamed, and I pointed to him, motioning him to hush.  

            "What's it on?" I asked, and Ron threw his head on the table, not wanting to look at the large pile of books in front of him.  Harry, however, answered for him.

            "Our family.  We have to come up with a family tree, compose a report for it, and then give an oral report on what we learned about our family history.  It's kind of stupid, really.  Ron's problem is that he has so much extended family, it's hard to keep track of everything. Hermione's problem is that she's a muggle born, so her family isn't in the Hogwarts record books."  He said.  Ron and Hermione shook their heads in agreement.  

            "Do you have any problems, Potter?" I asked with sympathy.  He looked at me, and then looked at the books.  If I kept this up, it was going to be hard to kill the boy later.  But I had to get him to trust in me first. 

            "Er, just a little." Of all the things in the world, he did not want to do a report on family history, seeing as all of his family was dead.  Ron could write home to his Mum and Dad, asking them about their family life.  So could Hermione.  I severely doubted that the Dursleys would be happy to answer Harry's questions.  This also meant he would have to find out stuff about his parents...

            "Tell you what, tomorrow, in class, I'll let you have the period to work on your report." He said, and they smiled.   Or at least, Ron and Hermione smiled.  That meant two extra hours they had to do a ridiculous report that was due in an outrageous amount of short time.  It didn't seem to help Harry any.  He still had a solemn look on his face, a depressed look on his face. I patted him on the shoulders.

            "Come to my office this evening, Harry.  I might be able to help you with your report. I know it's harder for you than it is the others." I whispered in his ear.  Mind you, I didn't know I was his grandfather.  He shook his head yes, and turned back to his books. 

Somewhere from there, I would find out some of the most important things ever in my life.  I would find my grandson.


	4. Blood and Wands

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything. 

A/N: You don't know how happy I am to have so many reviews...I'm glad everyone love Richard, but I think in this chapter you'll start to hate him a bit.  I made him a little evil.  This is where the secret is revealed: They find out the truth! *dum dun dum!* Thank you for the reviews! I love every single one of them! (J-chan burst into tears, and her alter ego comes and drags her away.) On with the fic!

Family Portrait

Chapter Three: Blood and Wands

J-chan

            I had spent the rest of the day manly in the library, looking up things about Harry's parents and extended family.  According to him, the really hard part was this:

            "My dad didn't have a dad." He said, and I looked at him funny.  I climbed off the ladder, looking at the book he had. 

            "What on Earth are you talking about?" I said, my attention turned to the book.  Indeed, it was his father's birth certificate.  And there wasn't a name under the part labeled Father.

            "And look at this." He pointed out, in this one book, that Faith Potter had never married.  She also died right after she gave birth to James, and her brother, Luke, had not known anything about his sister's pregnancy, much less who the father was. 

This had given me the perfect idea.

            "You know what this means, Potter?" I said, and Harry shook his head.  I screwed my face up, making it look as though I was curious as well.

            "It means, Potter, that you may still have family alive." His mouth dropped, his eyes widened, and he dropped the book he had in his hand.  (Mind you, I didn't know he was my grandson.) His green pupils seemed to jump from their safe haven of his eyes.  He was in complete shock.  Then he said the one thing I had hoped he would.

            "Is there any way to find out?" Bingo.  I was in.  

            You see, there is a spell to find out about your family.  But it is entirely too difficult, and very, very painful.  Pain to Harry, of course.  This would help move me along into killing him.  

            "Yes, there is..." I made my face look understanding.  I tried to look worried.  It worked.  

            "Really? Can you tell me how?  I mean, I might have a grandfather..." He started to ramble on and on, like a child on Christmas Eve.  I had never given it thought, but if you had lived with family you hated all your life, finding out that there is someone else out there is exciting.  I just didn't know how it would effect me.

            "Slow down, child." I told him, and he stopped, smiling.  "Yes, there is a spell that can show you your entire family tree.  That may help you with your report.  It also shows you things that books can't show you...It's shows you who's blood you have."  I saw a confused look on his face.

            "I mean, it's shows you your blood relatives.  If we did this spell to you, Harry..." I stopped, took a deep breath, and released. "It would show you who your grandfather is, Harry." The teenager shrieked, and I got a terrible look from the librarian.

            "Can you, I mean, do you know how to do the spell?  When can we do it?  Can we do it know? How does it work..."

            "Slow down, kiddo.  Yes, I know how to do the spell.  However, I'm afraid it might be too advance for you."  I said, and he looked at me like I was crazy. 

            "I can drive away Dementors! I can handle something a little advance..." He carried on, and his head full with a new dream: A dream of leaving the family he had.

            "A little advance?  Harry, I don't know...Besides, the spell is dangerous, none the less painful." He continued to give a crazy look.  

            "_Painful?_  How can a spell be painful?"  He asked, and I sighed. No wonder the kid has won against Tom, he's too damn curious for his own good.

            "Because it's more than a spell.  Do you want me to tell you what you do?" I asked, and he shook his head yes. "You must take your wand, pry from it a small splinter..." I stopped.  I couldn't do this to the kid, even if I was going to kill him eventually, I couldn't put him through the pain I had been through...

Now would be a good time to insert a flashback...

            Professor Binns never changes.  He assigns the same thing year after year after year.  When I was a fifth year, I had to do a report on my family as well.  And not a bone in my body wanted to.  You see, my mum, the only person I had left, had died the previous year.  I, much similar to James, had not known my father.  But there was also another problem: I didn't know a damn thing about my family.  I had asked the Transfiguration teacher, Professor Dumbledore, to help me with my report.  He had suggested the _Decisess_ spell. I had never been in more pain in my life. 

             You see, the spell works like this: You take your wand, and you pry a single splinter from it. You take the splinter, and you...you...jam it, into your left index finger.  You must jam it until it hits bone. And that hurts. When it has been jammed in there real good, you must say the incarnation: Deciess. It will make the splinter move.  But you must also mix these ingredients: green tea herbs, cinnamon, a piece of a unicorn's horn, a spiders eye, and the blood from your finger.  A lot of blood from your finger. And trust me, when the splinter has been driven into your finger so deep, it takes a long time for a single drop of blood to drop.  The splinter moves into a shape that represents your family.  Mine was a lightning bolt, much similar to the one on top of Harry's forehead.  

            Once the ingredients have been mixed, they create a green liquid that you must pour on a single piece of parchment that has been coated with tea herbs. If everything goes right, then the liquid should dissolve into the parchment. (A/N: Think Tom Riddle's dairy, how whenever you wrote something, the ink would sink into the paper, and then come up again with what Tom wrote.) If correct, the liquid would began to form into writing, creating a family tree.

            After I had explained this to Harry, and told him all the pain it would cause, he still seemed eager to do the spell.  I told him to come to my classroom at 8:00 that evening, to perform the spell. I had never seen the boy so excited in his life.  His relatives must be terrible for the boy to go through that much pain to find outside family.

***

            "Sorry I'm late, Richard.  Quidditch practice ran over a bit." Harry said, still in his Quidditch robes, with sweat running down his face. I smiled at him, putting the final coat of tea herbs on the parchment.  

            "Are you sure you want to do this, Harry? I'm here to tell you, this hurts." I said, and he shook his head yes.  He looked so determined, so full of life.  And so familiar.  That was probably the first time I had noticed that he looked like someone I knew.  

            "Right then, Harry.  Come over here." I told him, and he did as he was told.  He laid down on the cot I had made for him.

            "Hand me your wand, Harry." I said, and he handed me his wand. Flexible, I thought.  Much like my own. Luckily for me, a splinter was already hanging out of the wand.  I pulled it out, and I looked at Harry. 

            "Hold still.  This hurts a lot more if your wiggling...give me your left hand." I said.  Shaking, he pulled out his left hand. I think he was a lot more scared now that it was happening than when I was talking about it.  And then, it happened.

            "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed as I dug the small piece of wood into his finger. I held it there, holding it steadily.  His screaming did not stop, not until I let go of the wood.  He had tears running down his face, hard, cold tears that made me feel guilty.  He was bitting his bottom lip hard, hard enough that it started bleeding. 

            "Harry." I said, and he looked at me, tears still running down hard.  His lip bled even more, and I grabbed a towel and held it to his lip.

            "Harry, I realize your in pain, but you must say this incarnation!" I screamed, and his tears continued to fall due to the pain.  A put in his right hand his wand, holding on to his hand tightly.  

            " Deciess." I said, and he looked at me like I was a complete idiot. 

            "De...de ca...decie...deciess." He finally spit out, and the splinter began to move. He screamed again, making me have large memories.  The splinter moved.  It moved, and blood began dripping from his finger.  Drip, drip...the sound became a little unbearable.  I had forgotten exactly how long it took to get the proper amount of blood.  Harry stopped crying, his head feeling woozy from the pain and lack of blood.  Drip...a little bit more...

            I couldn't help but notice that the direction the splinter was moving was much in the same way you draw a lightning bolt.  I also noticed, as from examining his wand, that it contained a phoenix feather, like mine.  And, if you studied his face, he looked like me.  It was then when it hit me.  What if I... No, I told myself.  There was no way.  No possible way. 

            "There's a boy, Harry.  Now try to sit up...Here, eat something." I said, handing him a piece of chocolate.  Chocolate was the best healer for anything, in my opinion. He didn't eat it, but instead watched me mix the blood with the other ingredients. I mixed the blood well, for if it was the least bit clogged, the spell wouldn't work, and Harry would have done all of that for nothing.  Finally, it turned green.  Harry, after eating a bit of the chocolate, walked up beside me.  He was curious as to how it worked.  Slowly I began to pour the liquid on to the parchment, watching as it absorbed it, making it seem as though the entire thing was useless.  When the last drop of the potion was gone, I sat down beside Harry, holding the parchment carefully. 

            Then, suddenly, a burst of light entered the room.  The parchment began to shake violently as the writing began to make it's way into the shape of a tree.  Name after name began to pour onto the paper, and for a second I had wondered if it worked at all.  Then, it stopped.  It stopped right at the very end of the paper, where the name **_Harry Potter_** was written with fancy writing. We both stopped, looked at the paper with great anticipation, and then I saw it:

**_Richard Patterson_**


	5. The Truth

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything...

A/N: SIXTEEN REVIEWS!!! OMG!!! 16 REVIEWS!! ::J-chan cries, and her alter-ego Jedi (pronounced Jed-E) comes to talk about the story.::

Jedi: Forgive my alter-ego, she's in the process of a nervous breakdown from all the reviews.  She wishes for me to tell you this, You are going to cry in this chapter.

Family Portrait

Chapter Four: The Truth

J-chan

            Perhaps if I had not fallen out of my chair at the sight of my name, then maybe Harry would not have noticed exactly what I saw.  'Course, when I fell, Harry came running to my side, asking me exactly what did I see.  I couldn't speak.  I couldn't even breath.  Even though I had just thought the same thing moments ago, finding out that it was the truth hurt more than anything.  

            How? Why? When? Where? All of these questions rushed around my brain. I was paralyzed.  How?  How could he be my grandson? I never married! I never had any kids...

            Then came a picture into my mind. A picture of Faith Potter, a woman I had talked to probably once in my life, and I was drunk as a fool at the time.  I was the one who caused her to die...to die giving birth.  It all made since.  It fit together–why Harry looked like me, why he was a Seeker, how he was good in Defense...

            "Rich?  Richard, what's wrong?" He asked, and I looked up at him, stunned.  They say the truth hurts.  They mean it.  Man, I don't think my back's ever gotten any better...

            "Let me see your finger, Potter." I said, and he looked at me as if I was mad.  But he did as he was told, as all good little boys should. I examined his left index finger with great care and perversion, and there it was.  I put his finger back, and then gazed at my own.  Even though the scar was no longer there, the painful memory was.  And it was the same.  The same lightning bolt shape, the same color...and my name, on his family tree.

            "What's going on, Richard?" He asked once more, and I lifted my head up. For the first time, my hazel eyes met my grandson's green eyes, both pairs of eyes shaded by overly large, geeky glasses. But I had an understanding that he didn't, for I knew what it meant. 

            "Nothing, Harry.  Nothing at all." I said, standing up.  I made one of the first mistakes then.  I rolled up my sleeves.  

            "What's that?" He asked, and I could have fainted.  How could I have been so dumb as to reveal my mark to him? I pulled my sleeve back down, but it was too late.

            "Was that..." He began, edging closer to where I was. His eyes were a whirlwind of emotion.  I couldn't tell which emotion was best to describe it: hatred, anger, shock, compassion....And yet I froze.  Under the boy's hateful gaze, I felt powerless.  Powerless not because of Harry's power, but because of what he was to me.    "The Dark Mark?" He asked, and I turned and looked at him. I could answer him.  I just starred.

            "It is, isn't?  Are you..." He paused, lost for words. "A Death Eater?" He finally chocked out, and I shook my head.  No point lying to him.

            "Are you going to run to Dumbledore?" I asked.  I imagine my voice was shaking, just as   my body was.  He looked at me with utmost confusion.

            "No! I mean, yes! I don't know...What are you doing at Hogwarts?" He asked, scared, frightened, and above all things, lost. I think the main reason he is is because I was being so honest. 

            "My original goal was to kill you, but I can't do that anymore." I put on a sick smile, and Harry appeared to be in mortal shock. I sat him down, though he didn't seem to be very fond of me anymore.  Hell, would you?

            "W-Why?" Harry said, shaking his head nervously.  I stood still, watching his nervousness.  I think he was for sure I was going to kill him right then and there.  His face was red, and his eyes were bloodshot.  Noble of him, to face death with open arms.  Not that I was going to kill him...

            "I was right, Harry.  You do have family left." I said, handing him the parchment with his family tree on it.  He looked at it carefully, never taking his eyes off of me for more than three seconds.  Then he saw it.

            "**_You!!!" _**He screamed, much like how I imagined he would. The redness in his cheeks that was once from tears were now from pure anger, in the depth of his heart.

            "**_HOW DARE YOU!! HOW COULD YOU?! YOU'RE A DEATH EATER! YOU'RE A..." _**He stopped, and he shoved his head on his knees. Tears ran down his thin face, fogging up his glasses.

            "Healarous." I muttered a spell, healing his finger.  The lightning blot was no more, and the splinter was demolished. He looked up at me, scared, worried...and something else.  Something else I didn't know yet. I bent down on my knees, wrapping the boy in a large hug.

            "I can't kill you, Harry.  Not anymore.  Trust me, if I would have known..." He jumped slightly when I began to talk again, and he looked me straight in the eye. 

            "You mean...you didn't know?" He asked, wiping his eyes gently. 

            "No.  I didn't.  I knew Faith, me and her were in the same year, same house together.  I met her about ten years after that, in a pub..." He looked at me with understanding.  He smiled a strange smile of compassion.

            "It's her fault, really.  She never told anyone she was pregnant, much less tell anyone who the father was. Her brother did a good job raising James, though..." Now was my turn to cry. "Though I wish I would have known.  If I had..." I closed my eyes.  It would do no good if Harry saw me cry. "Then I wouldn't have been a Death Eater." I answered, and then he jumped up.

            "Hey! If you were once a Death Eater, then you know a lot about Voldermort..." He said, and I was lost. "What are you getting at, Harry?" 

            "What I mean is, you could help us stop Voldermort! You know all his secrets and stuff like that..." I stopped Harry by grabbing his wrist.

            "Harry, sit down." I said, and he did as he was told.  I sat him beside me, wrapping my arm around my grandson.(You don't know how weird that sounds...) 

            "I said I wasn't going to kill you.  I never said I was going to stop being a Death Eater." He looked at me like I was crazy, and then replied: "Why? What does being a Death Eater do for you?" He asked, compassionately. 

            "For me, it's not really power or money.  It's more of a debt.  You see, Harry, I went to school fifty years ago. Fifty years ago, Tom...er, Voldermort went to school then too.  And, Harry, try to understand this, he was my best friend.  After school we remained friends, and I was one of the first people to follow him when he became the Dark Lord.  Try to see through my point of view, Harry.  If Ron went to become the next Dark Lord, you'd follow him, wouldn't you?" Harry had a look on his face, a look of depression. 

            "Your right. I would. So I can't blame you..." He stopped short, taking in a deep breath. "But I'm not going to just let you stay a Death Eater.  As long as I'm your grandson, I'm going to be trying to stop you.  If you stay on the side with Voldermort, I will always be your enemy. But I will also be your grandson..."


	6. Emotions

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything. 

A/N: OMG! I went logged in to see how many reviews I had, clicked on it to find that I had 21! Then I clicked on the Just-In.  Then I remembered that I wanted to do something to my profile, and I logged back in, and I found out that in three minutes, I had another review and was on another persons favorite author's list.  You don't know how happy this makes me...::starts crying again and Jed comes to the rescue.:: 

Jedi: In this chapter you will get an overly-emotional Harry. 

Family Portrait

Chapter Five: Emotions

J-Chan

            When Harry didn't show up to class the next day, I wasn't real worried.  Nor was I the next day.  However, when it had been three days and he was a no show, I had to do something. 

            "Ron, where is Harry?" I asked after taking roll call. Ron looked at Hermione, and then back at me.

            "In the common room." He said, and everyone else shook their head. I used my hand to wipe my face before asking why.

            "I don't know.  Every time me or Hermione ask him about it, he'll start crying or throwing things. He was really upset a few days ago." Ron said, and Seamus Finnigan shook his head as. 

            "Yeah, he came into our dorm really late at night, crying. Any time we asked about it, he would grab something and throw it out the window. He wouldn't even answer his owls." Another kid, Lavender Brown, started on where Seamus went off.

            "Didn't come to breakfast either, or any other class." 

            "I heard Angelina Johnson say that he's skipped Quidditch practice too."

            "He's been really pale.  I think he's sick." 

            "Or maybe someone died? He's really sad, though." The class became an uproar.  None of them had ever seen Harry like this before. I hadn't either, but I reckon he had been angry and sad before.  Having a wizard who was sad/mad was dangerous, especially when they couldn't control their anger.  Things...happen when a wizard is scared. They become more powerful than they ought, which might be how Tom became so powerful. It has something to do with the way they think.  They become so mad that impossibility becomes a fantasy, and nothing can stop them.   It's bad for their health. However, I was too busy noticing that the fact that he didn't tell his friends. 

            "You mean he didn't tell you what was wrong?" I asked, and Ron gave me a suspicious look. Hermione gave away the same glare, as if I did something.

            "No...Do you know?" Ron smarted off, and his eyes never left mine.  I couldn't help it, I had to snap back.

            "Yes, actually, I do. I can't believe he didn't tell you, though.  I was for sure he would...But then again, that really is his business whether he would tell you or not. Still, it's best I go talk to him. Do you think I'll get in trouble for leaving all of you hooligans on your own?" I asked, and Ron's mouth dropped.

            "_How can you know?" _He said, and I smiled.  I think he was still getting over the shock that there was a secret Harry had that he hadn't told Ron about. 

            "I have my ways, Weasley.  Now, class, work on your reports for Professor Binns while I'm gone.  I'll be back soon, hopefully.  I just hope Harry hasn't done anything drastic..." I said, grabbing my wand and walking out the door.  Before I left, though, I heard Ron say something.

            "He doesn't even know the password to get to the common room..."

***

            "Harry?" I asked.  The door shut swiftly behind me, letting a cool, wintery breeze in the fifth year Gryffindor boys dorms. (That's a mouthful.) He didn't even notice that I was in the room.  He just sat there, quiet and calm like a mouse, hugging his knees gently, his head resting noiselessly on his knees.  I walked over to him, and I sat beside him, placing my arm around his.  He still seemed fazed, though he wasn't crying.   Finally, after what seemed like forever, he spoke.

            "It's cold." Gee, wasn't interesting?   I wrapped my arm around him tightly.  

            "It gets that way in November." I said, and he looked my way, noticing me for the first time. He didn't look for long, though.  Before I knew it, his head was on his knees again. 

            "Look, Harry. I realize your mad at me, but you've got to believe me...I didn't know..."

            "...Do you know what I see every time I get near a Dementor?" He said, interrupting me harshly.  He still wouldn't look at me, but at least he was talking to me.

            "I see my mum.  And I see her die.  Over. And over. And over again. If I'm around the Dementor long enough, I'll see my dad. Do you know what it's like to see your parents die over and over again?" I shook my head no.  "Do you know what's worse?  One of their best friends betrayed them, and his own fricken father helped kill him as well. Do you know how that feels, Richard?  That hurts, dammit, it hurts.  And..." He bursted into tears, leaning in on me.  I guess I could have been Snape and he still would have leaned on me.  I wrapped both arms around him, embracing him in a hug. Overly emotional...happened a lot after the Deciess spell. One of the side effects, actually. 

            "Shh...It'll be alright.  I promise...I won't kill you." I whispered over and over, not really saying it to him, really, but to myself. I carelessly rubbed my hand in his hair, letting him cry. It was a minute or two before he let go of me. 

            "Please, Richard...Granddad...please, come..." He started to stutter, wiping his eyes. He started to speak again. "Please, come back...a-away from V-Voldemort..." He started to cry again, jumping into my arms once more. I rubbed his head, wiping his eyes with my finger.

            "It's not that simple, Harry.  If only you could see it through my side.  I can't turn against Voldemort, he's my best friend.  He has been for years.  I wish that you would just...accept the facts." He looked at me, threateningly. 

            "But...If...if it means I'll have you, then I guess I could try..."His eyes glowed with happiness.  

            "Oh Grandpa!" He screamed, jumping into my arms, embracing me in a large hug.  For the first time in a long time, I was truly happy.

A/N: This is not the end! There will be more, I tell you!


	7. Evil Quidditch Match

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything.

A/N: I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL!   I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE SCHOOL! And as every famous person has once said, "Thank God it's the Weekend!" So therefore, now I can write!  Muhahahahaha!!!! ::J-chan breaks into an evil laugh, and Jed comes to the rescue.::

Jed: This chapter has Quidditch! Harry and Richard's big secret might be revealed because of it. (Dances in his Quidditch robes, hoping no one is watching.) 

Family Portrait

Chapter Six: Evil Quidditch Match

J-chan

            "ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!!!" I screamed in front of the large, stone gargoyle that guarded Professor Dumbledore's office.  Forgive me, but I am terrible at remembering passwords, which is perhaps how I know nearly every secret passageway in the school.  Heck, Dumbledore or Tom don't have anything on me!  I know them all, and I know there is no other way into Dumbledore's office.  

            "Ah, Richard, I was beginning to wonder if you had woken up the students yet." The crouched over gray haired man said, climbing out of his office. His was dressed, to my surprise, in nice robes, rather than diner things. 

            "So sorry, Albus, but this was the only time when..."

            "You knew I wouldn't be busy? Yes, Professor Trelawnie told me that you would need to see me some time today. I'm afraid it was only a second ago that I heard your screams or else I would have came out sooner. I think I am beginning to go deaf in my left ear, can't hear anything anymore..." Albus complained, but then saw my serious gaze and fell silent.  

            "I do believe you have come with important matters, Richard?  If so, then please, step inside my office and we will discuss whatever it is that needs to be discussed."  I did so, and when I stepped into his office, I was surprised at how much it had not changed.  The sorting hat was still there, though it looked older and more ragged than it had when I had it.  Fawkes was still there, his beautiful red feathers still in tact. I had spent a good part of five minutes starring at the old office, trying to remembering how many times I had been in here before when Professor Dipplet had been headmaster. 

            "Er, Richard?" Albus said, grabbing my attention.  "What seems to be the problem, old friend?" He asked, and smiled gently at me.  I sighed, taking a seat in one of the chairs in the room.

            "It involves the boy." I said.  Everyone knew who 'the boy' was.  'The boy' was Harry, and when discussing matters such as this, it was best to call him 'the boy.' 

            "Ah, you finally found out, did you?" He asked, with a twinkle in his eye.

            "I don't know what to...Wait a second! _Finally found out?_  How did you know?!"  I screamed, as I seem to do a lot these days. Albus laughed though, finding my confusion incredibly funny.

            "The moment I saw James, I knew.  Harry seems to act more like you than James did." He chuckled, and I sat there, eyes wide open.

            "You knew? Why didn't you contact me and tell me? Do you know what I would have done differently if I knew I had a son?!" I said angrily, rubbing my hand through my now-gray-was-once-black-hair. 

            "Would you have believed me?" He said plainly, and I thought about that for a second.  Twenty years ago, if Dumbledore would have came up to me and said I had a son, I would have laughed him at him so hard...There would be no way  I would have believed him. Hell would have had to froze over first.

            "No, I wouldn't have. Could you blame me?" I asked, sighing breathlessly. 

            "No.  I never expected you to.  And I thought you would have been more hurt when you did find out if I had told you, and you didn't believe me." He said, his blue eyes sparkling like they always did behind those half-moon glasses of his. 

            "Richard, I also must confess that I know more than I think you do." He said, grinning. I looked at him with great curiosity in my eyes. 

            "I know you're a Death Eater, and I've known for a long time.  I figure Harry knows now, doesn't he?" Albus laughed, and I laughed a little too.  A house elf appeared, filling the fireplace with more wood, then giving us a spot of brandy.

            "You don't miss a thing, do you?  Yes, Harry does know.  By accident, I assure you.  But one thing concerns me, Albus." I said, and he motioned for me to go on.  "If you knew I was a Death Eater, then why did you hire me as a teacher?" I asked plainly, for it was something that was lingering in my mind for a while now. 

            "Because, Richard.  You had to know.  I couldn't let you kill Harry without knowing who he was." He said quietly, sipping his brandy peacefully.

            "I don't want to kill Harry.  He's everything...now.  But I can't betray Tom! He's my best friend, and has been for forever! Oh, Albus, do you know what to do? Because I don't! I can't have both..." I said sadly. Albus always had an idea of some sort.  He could always make things work. Unfortunately, he didn't for me.

            "I'm sorry, Richard...But I can't see how.  Your grandson has been the only thing that's stopped Tom from destroying everything in his path.  I realize he's your friend, and that he always will be your friend.  But is he worth killing your grandson for? Is it worth killing the Heir of Gryffindor?" Oops, hadn't thought of that one.  If Harry did die, he would be the last of Godric Gryffindor's family.  How could I possibly think of betraying that?

            "Your right, Albus.  I can't have both.  But..." It meant so much to me, Tom did.  He was there for me when no one else was. He was the Dark Lord, and always would be.  He was the most feared and powerful wizard of all time.  If I betrayed him, it would only be a day and a half before I was dead. But...there was also Harry.  How could such a little boy, a boy I hardly knew, mean so much to me in so little time? He's the only thing I have left in the world.  He's everything to me. Yes, that was my answer.  I would choose Harry above everything else. He's all that mattered anymore.  But how was I going to tell that to Tom?

***

            "Lucius?" I said, looking at the white/blonde haired man in front of me. Today was the greatest day, for me anyway, in the world.  The first Quidditch match of the season!!!!! GO GRYFFINDOR!!!!!!! However, running in to one of my former/fellow Death Eaters was something that made me worried.

            "Ah, Mr. Patterson.  What a pleasure to see you here.  What brings you to a school Quidditch match?" Lucius Malfoy said, his cold voice echoing in the school.

            "I'm a teacher here, Lucius." I said, trying my best not to sound worried. Didn't work to well, but he seemed fooled. "What brings you here?" I asked.

            "My son is on the Syltherin team, and I have come to watch him.  You will be cheering him on, won't you?" He asked.  No point in lying to him. So I said no, but I stuttered slightly as I did.

            "I understand. You're a teacher. Not supposed to cheer for any team, people might get suspicious...Ah, right.  The game begins soon, so I will go down to the field. Care to join me?" He asked, carrying that blasted walking stick he always had with him.

             "Um, no, I think.  I am meeting someone here." I lied. Lucius left me alone, and I stood there, hoping someone would come up to me.  Indeed, it was Minerva. 

            "Richard!  Good, it's you.  I was hoping to run into you.  Listen, Madam Hooch is sick and we need a replacement referee.  Would you do the honors?" Me, a ref? Ok!

            "Sure, Minerva." I said, walking down to the field.  This was going to be fun.

**

            "Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season! Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! This is your commentator, Lee Jordan. Let's welcome out the Gryffindor side: Wood, Johnson, Bell, Weasley, Weasley, and ...Potter!" Lee yelled. (A/N: I know I forgot someone, but I couldn't remember the other Chasers last name! And I realize Oliver and Flint would be gone by Harry's fifth year, but lets pretend their not, ok?) "Now, the Slytherins: Flint, Selar, Damian, Lucas, Eugene, Harvey, and ...Malfoy!" He yelled, though not nearly as enthusiastic as he was with the Gryffindor side. "Referee for this match is Rich...I mean, Professor Patterson, lets all give a round of applause for our Defense teacher!" Ha! I haven't felt this good since I last played a game of Quidditch myself. 

            "Now, I want you to behave yourselves, so don't cheat!" I screamed nearly directly at the Slytherin team, and I released the balls, with my whistle blowing hard.  I winked at Harry.  He still didn't look good, not good enough to be playing Quidditch, and I think the rest of the team noticed.  It was only a matter of seconds before my whistle began to blow again.

            "Foul! Flint, you don't hit the Chasers!" 

            "Foul! Penalty shot for Gryffindor."

            "Foul! Jason Harvey, only the Beaters can use those sticks!" 

            "Weasley, no, you can't jinx their brooms because they knocked Katie off." Whew.  If I have a voice tomorrow, then God bless me. Finally, the game seemed to be moving relatively smooth until I saw it.

            "Harry!" I yelled. He stopped and looked at me, right when a large, green light appeared out of Malfoy's wand.  Unfortunately, it was too late.

            "Ah!!" He screamed, and I blew my whistle, stopping the game.  It was a matter of seconds before Dumbledore and the other teachers were on the field as well.

Harry hadn't been killed, but he had been hit hard by the Curico(sp?) curse.

***

            "He needs medical attention!" Minerva yelled, and I was furious. Not only was he hit, but he had fallen off his broom, and hit hard on the ground. The wind also took his broom, and it flew off. Dumbledore managed to magic some sort of stretcher to put him on, and before any one in the audience could leave, I put a spell on the stadium so no one could.

            "WHO DID THAT?"  I yelled, and everyone fell silent. They had never seen me angry before.  And frankly, I was pissed.  No one hurt my grandson and got away with it.

            "ANSWER ME! WHO CONJURED THAT CURSE?" It was only then when little Draco caught my attention. He had gotten hit by the curse as well, though not as hard. I knew at once that Lucius hadn't done it, seeing as though he was swooning over his own son.  I led the boy to the hospital wing, anger expressing through my face.  

***

            "Are you awake, Harry?" I asked.  It was late that night, and Harry and Draco were in the hospital wing over night.  Both were severely injured, but Harry was far worse than Draco.  Draco was asleep at the moment.  So I thought.

            "Granddad?" His low, shallow voice called out. I rubbed his head gently.

            "It's okay, Harry, your alright now." I said, kissing his forehead.

            "W-who did that?" He asked, still in a lot of pain and shock.  He's been in pain for a few days now, mostly because of me. 

            "I don't know, but I promise you, they won't be here long.  I'll find them, and then I'll kill them, or at least get them expelled. No one will ever hurt my grandson, not again, anyway." That was where I made my big mistake...

A/N: So glad I'm done! Whew, that took a lot out of me.  Anyways, I need your guys opinion: Do you want Remus and Sirius in the next chapter? If you do, tell me in your review! Please review, as well.  It's truly the inspiration for all my stories.  Which, I will tell you, one of my new ones, Friendship, did a lot better than I thought, so I hope you will read this, then read that.  Ok, I'm done for now.  Adios!


	8. Christmas Part One

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything.

A/N: Ok, everyone seems to want Sirius and Remus, so, I say lets have Sirius and Remus! They'll be in the next chapter, so don't worry, people! Also, this is my last week of school before Christmas Vacation, so I'll be able to write more. Also, please note that there are a few scenes in this fic that are not in anyone's point of view, but most of it is back to Richard's. Just so you know! This is a very short chapter, so sorry. On with the fic!

Family Portrait

Chapter Seven: Christmas 

J-chan

(3rd POV)

_            "Weasley." Draco said, his gray eyes glistening with a fire that was not pleasing. The red head turned to his arch enemy, and asked what he wanted._

_            "Just thought you'd like to here a little bit of information I've over heard, staying in the hospital wing and all." Ron listened carefully to Draco's words, not for sure if he should believe him or not. _

_            "It seems, Weasley, that your best friend in the entire world, the one you would do absolutely anything for, has a secret.  One I accidently over heard. It's obvious, to me anyway, that our Defense teacher is actually your best friends' grandfather." Draco said, and Ron looked at him with disbelief.   "Why should I believe you? You have no proof!" Ron said, determined not to believe his rival. _

_            "Oh really?" He said, pulling something that looked like a muggle tape recorder from out of his sheets, and he played back what he had recorded the night earlier.  Ron stood there, in ultimate disbelief._

_            "Also, a little something I don't think you know. I've heard from certain...people that our Defense professor is also a Death Eater.  Seems strange that he's also Harry's grandfather.  I just thought you'd like to know that."_

(Richard's POV)

            I thought it was weird when I came into class that morning, because all of the seventh year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs seemed to be in an uproar.  The only thing I could figure was that Fred or George Weasley let off a Dungbomb in the class.  However, it was also weird that the entire class silenced when I entered the room. They looked at me, and they started whispering behind my back.  It was very weird, because somehow I knew they were talking about me. Finally, I got to the front of the class, and turned at looked at them all.

            "What is with all of you today?" I asked, shutting the entire class up.  Finally, little Katie Bell raised her hand.

            "Yes, Katie?" I asked, willing to get an answer from anyone.

            "Well, sir, there's a rumor going around that...well...people think that you, Richard...are a Death Eater." She said, her voice quivering with fear.  Fred Weasley shot her an evil glare, as did a few Hufflepuffs. I, however, found it very funny that someone found out my secret, and bursted into laughter in front of the class.

            "Who told ya that?" I asked, laughing slightly. George, the more sensible of the two twins, answered.

            "Me and Fred heard it from Ginny, who heard it from Cho Chang, who heard it from Jason Harvey, who heard it from Crabbe and Goyle, who heard it from Melanie Whitebark, who eavesdropped from Ron and Hermione, who I'm guessing heard it from Draco Malfoy." I laughed once more.

            "I figured it would be him who start a rumor like that.  If you must know, I'm not a Death Eater." I told them.  Hey, it was true.  I was going to try to give up on that.  But, it's always best to be honest, so I continued. "But I once was, so that's probably where he's getting it from." The class became loud and noisy again. I finally got the class to calm down, reassuring them that I was not a Death Eater, and then having a spectacular lesson on Cherokes, small, little pink puff balls that blew up when someone untrustworthy is around. Luckily, the next class I had was with Ron and Hermione, and I needed to talk to them. 

However, I didn't even need to ask them to stay afterwards, they did on their own free will.

            "Er, Richard...I gotta question, a really personal question..." Ron asked nervously, with Hermione standing next to him, edging him to speak more. 

            "I need to speak with you two, as well.  I'm guessing its over the same thing you wish to tell me, no?" Ron and Hermione shook there heads.  It was now break, so I could spend as much time as I needed to talk to them.

            "If you must know, yes, Harry is my grandson.  How, I'm not so sure anymore.  But rest assured, if I had known about him before, he would have never met the Dursleys." I said plainly.

            "So you didn't know either?" Hermione said, and I shook my head yes. 

            "Another thing, Richard...Are you a Death Eater? I mean, I know Draco Malfoy is a liar and a" (He said something that made Hermione slap him, so I won't repeat it.) "But his dad's a Death Eater, and he was really serious when he told me that you were one also.  I just want to the truth." He said, and Hermione shook her head also. If I wasn't so honest and good-natured, I would have lied.  But these were my grandson's best friends, they had to know.  And besides, Harry would have told them sooner or later. 

            "Well..." I lowered my voice so much that they had to lean up to hear me. "I was at the beginning of the school year. But you must believe me when I tell you that I've changed. Finding Harry and all...I can't hurt him, and that was my entire mission for being here. I realize, as children, excuse me, teenagers its hard to understand why someone like me would go to Voldemort's side, but..." I fell silent for a moment, in deep thought.  What would happen when Tom found out? Would he kill me? Or would he ignore me until I finally died of natural causes? Who knew? "But Tom Riddle...Voldemort, was my best friend in school, and even afterwards.  I followed him through whatever, but I won't kill my grandson for him." I said, my thoughts still going back to the fear of what might happen when he found out.  Ron's face paled.

            "You mean You-Know-Who is...was you best friend?" Ron asked, and I shook my head yes. I think he might have fallen out if Hermione didn't catch him.  He sat down in one of the seats in the front row.

            "Tell me, do you two know when Draco or Harry are getting out of the hospital wing?" I asked, ready to have a long talk to Mr. Malfoy about spreading rumors.

            "Draco will be out sometime later today. As for Harry, sometime tomorrow." Hermione said.  I smiled and looked at Hermione.

            "You're a smart witch, Hermione. You'd understand this better than Ron does. Tell me, have you ever heard of the Deciess spell?" I asked, and her eyes lightened up. Ron's sort of darkened, like I had insulted him or something.

            "The family spell?" She asked, and I shook my head yes.

            "You know the side effects of it, I trust?" I asked gently.  

            "Of course. It's makes you feel ill, and your emotions ride like a roller coaster." She said, quoting what she had read in a book. I think she was beginning to understand what I was telling her.   "You didn't do the spell, did you?" She asked, her eyes filled with worry and control, almost like shock.

            "Yes. So you know what I want you to do?" I asked. I never mean it, but sometimes I hated having Hermione for a student. She could make even  Dumbledore feel dumb. 

            "You want me to watch over Harry, right?" She said, and I smiled.

            "Just make sure that once he's out of the hospital wing, he doesn't kill anyone, like, oh Draco Malfoy. I trust you two. You're his best friends. He's going to need you two soon." I said, and Ron looked up at the clock.

            "It's pointless to go out to break now. We've only got five minutes left." He said, and I frowned.

            "Sorry for wasting your break." Then an idea hit me. "Say, what are you two doing for Christmas?" I asked. Ron and Hermione turned to each other, and then looked back at me.

            "We don't know...We'll probably stay here." Ron said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

            "Because of Harry?" I asked, and they shook their heads. It had been a long time since either of them had spent the holidays with their families, and they missed them a lot, I could tell. I smiled. 

            "Don't. I've been talking to Albus, and he seems to think that Harry might want to spend the holidays with his godfather. And I've been meaning to have a nice, long chat with Remus, so I figured Harry and I would go and spend Christmas with Sirius and Remus. Just to warn you, so that if you did stay, you would be staying alone." They smiled at me, just as the bell rang for the next class to come in. This was going to be a long year...I could tell.


	9. Christmas Part Two

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything. (Not even the little bit about Lord of the Rings.)

A/N: Well, here it is. I've been as sick as a dog, and I haven't been able to get out of bed, much less write anything. The chapter was originally part of the last chapter, but I got lazy, so it's two parts now. Hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Good will towards men, and since I'm not biased, good will towards women and children, too!

Family Portrait

Chapter Eight: Christmas (Part Two)

J-chan

(3rd POV)

_            Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked to History of Magic class alone, talking among themselves about what they were going to do during the Christmas holidays, or what Binns would think about their reports. All of the sudden Draco Malfoy turned up behind them, with Crabbe and Goyle at his side. He stopped Harry in his tracks. Now mind you, it's only been a few days since Harry got out of the hospital wing. Last thing he needs is to get back in it because he and Draco had a duel. _

_            "Well, well, if it isn't Potty, Weasel, and mudblood Granger. Going to run to your Granddad, Potter, or have you not told everyone else yet?" Draco taunted, making a few people in the hallway stop. Ron and Hermione had told Harry the rumors Draco had spread around the school about Richard being a Death Eater, and if it got out that Harry was a Death Eaters' grandson, there was no clue what people would think. Harry wasn't going to let that happen. _

_            "Say the word, Malfoy, and I swear I'll kill you." He said, wand out and ready. Ron and Hermione had theirs out too, just in case. The look on Harry's face showed nothing but anger, and a readiness to kill Malfoy. _

_            "Now aren't we in the Christmas spirt, Potter? Or should I say something else? Your real last name, perhaps?" Draco's taunts were drawing a lot of unwanted attention._

_            "Say it Draco. I dare you. In fact, please do. I need a good reason to kill you."_

_            "You wouldn't dare . . . "_

_            "Wanna bet?" Harry said, his wand very close to Draco's nose. It was then when Draco noticed that the only teacher around them was Richard, and he would probably let Harry murder him, if not, help him do it. He backed out._

(Richard's POV)

            "In my report, I took a long study to realize that my family goes very far on my dad's side. I also realized that me and Ron were destined to be best friends, because our ancestors were. My farthest ancestor, Frodo Baggins, was best friends with Samwise Gamgee, Ron's ancestor. Frodo was particularly famous for his defeat of the wizard Sauron, a feared wizard in medieval times. He's also famous because he is the great-great grandfather of Godric Gryffindor.  Godric Gryffindor is one of the founders of this school. Anything you could want to know about him can be found in the library, and a book called _Hogwarts, A History . . . " _(A/N: I was too lazy to make up Harry's history, so I borrowed one. Oh don't give me that look! Could have been worse, it could   be Luke Skywalker . . . ) I truthfully don't think  he knows I'm listening to him.

            Oh sure, Professor Binns noticed that I came into the class room, but all he did was hold up his finger, telling me to let Harry finish his oral report. So I stood there, leaning on the doorpost to the old classroom. :( His is bigger than mine . . .  Ron noticed I was in here, and he waved before giving Harry his undivided attention. It was then when he turned and looked at me. 

            "Grandpa!" He shrieked, dropping his note cards all over the place. Professor Binns gave me a dirty look, watching Harry cling to me. 

            "I'm glad you came! I can use you for my report! Everyone, this is my grandfather!" He said, watching the fifth year Gryffindor's faces turn from sleep to wonderment. I'm guessing he no longer cared who knew. This was going to get around the school pretty quickly . . .  

            "Really Ric . . . Professor Patterson? Are you really Harry's grandfather?" Neville Longbottom asked, stopping himself from calling me Richard in front of Professor Binns. (I told them to be careful about that, seeing as how Minerva got wind that I told the students to call me Richard, and gave me an earful.) Ron answered for me.

            "Yes he is! He told me and Hermione so!" I smiled at him, though I turned to Professor Binns.

            "Didn't mean to interrupt, Professor, but I was just going to take Harry, if you wouldn't mind . . . " I asked. I hadn't realized earlier just how far away Remus lived, and he wasn't connected to floo powder, either. And seeing as this was the last day before holidays, I figured I was going to get him out a little early. 

            "Fine. You're free to go, Harry. By the way, you made a B on your oral report. I'll have your written one done by the end of the holidays. If you would have looked up from your note cards at all, you would have had an A." I frowned, but ended up pulling Harry out of the classroom, him waving at his friends and classmates. 

            "Thanks for getting me out of History, Richard. But tell me, what's the occasion?" He asked, walking down the hallway at a paced speed.

            "We're going to see that blasted godfather of you for the holidays. You're packed, right?" I asked. He better have just forgotten . . .  I Take it he didn't.  He stopped dead in the hallway.

            "We're going to see Sirius?!" He asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

            "Um, yes, did you not know?" I asked him. This was the last time I'm going to rely on Ron giving messages.

            "No! Is that why Ron and Hermione are going home for Christmas?" He asked, and I shook my head. 

            "Yeah. I'm going to give Ron a good slap on the face, too, for not telling you. Ah, I guess we'd better head out to the common room . . . " I said, turning around completely.  Harry gave me a strange look.

            "Eh, Granddad? The Gyffindor common room is this way . . . " He said, pointing to the direction we had once headed in.

            "I know, but I know a short cut that's this way." I said, grabbing his hand. 

***

            "You mean it's that simple to get to the common room?" Harry asked, stepping out of the passageway I showed him.

            "Yep. And if you had taken the staircase to the right you would've been in the Ravenclaw common room. And if you had to the one to the bottom left you'd end up in the Slytherin common room. And the bottom right would have been Hufflepuff." I said, walking up to the boy's dormitories. 

            "And if you went straight?" Harry asked, following me closely. 

            "Eventually you would have ended up in the Chamber of Secrets, but I didn't tell you that." I said, winking at him. He laughed, opening the chest at the end of his bed. I looked at some of the clothes he was pulling out, confused.

            "Why do you have some of that stuff, Harry? That's entirely too big for you . . . " He sighed, putting a pair of pants that would have fit me in his bag. (And I'm quite a bit bigger than Harry.)

            "The Dursleys never bought me any clothes. I just got Dudley's old stuff. Though the Weasleys' have given me a sweater every year that I've known them." He said, grabbing a blue sweater with a large 'H' on it. I crinkled my nose. I was going to change that. I was about to say something, too, but something else caught my eye.

            "My Invisibility Cloak!" I screamed, taking the cloak out of Harry's hands. He looked at me for a second before replying.

            "It was once my Dad's . . . I got it for Christmas my first year from Professor Dumbledore." I said. Made sense. I had given the old thing to Dumbledore many, many years ago. And he gave it to my son! Ha! That old fart likes to make sure things stay in the family, doesn't he . . . 

            "I gave that to Dumbledore many years ago. I can't even remember why, now, but I'm glad I did. Glad to know he's kept up with a family heirloom . . . "  Harry laughed.

            "Where did it come from?" He asked, zipping up his bag. 

            "Long time ago, before I was even thought about. Legend in the family is that it came from Godric Gryffindor himself, a gift from his wife, Amethyst.  It's been sowed back together quite a few times, so I don't doubt the legend." I said, pulling it on. Boy, do I remember how many times' Tom and I used that sucker to get around school. 

            "So in other words, my entire family has been trouble makers?" He asked, taking the cloak and putting it in his bag and pulling out a piece of parchment. It was old and worn. He smiled, glad of my confusion. He pulled out his wand, and pointed it at the piece of parchment.

            "I solemnly swear I am up too no good!" He said, and a map appeared, in green ink, too. I laughed.

            "How'd you get this?" I said, walking down the stairs of the dormitories.

            "Fred and George Weasley gave it to me in my third year. My dad, Sirius, Remus, and Peter Pettigrew made it." (He kind of scorned when he said Peter.) I laughed, examining the map carefully when I noticed it. The map was far from finished. 

            "So your dad is related to me after all! I thought it might have just been you that he just passed down my greatness . . . but no.  He's like me enough.  Though there's something wrong with this map, Harry." Harry looked at me, puzzled. "It's not near finished. I got a feeling that Flich got it before these Marauder's could finish it.  Maybe we could finish it together, at a few finishing touches." I said, and Harry laughed.

            "Sirius would like that. Not sure if Remus would, seeing as how strict he is . . . Anyway, sure! Why not? It's something we can do over the break . . . " He said, muttering something, and the map went blank. He shoved it into his bag and walked out with me.

***

            I have never been so bored in my life. Why does Remus have to live so far away? Oh, I know the answer to that. But still, if I were a werewolf, I'd live just a little closer, maybe I'd get lucky and I could bite Malfoy . . .  Not that I want to hurt him, mind you . . . 

            Harry had long since fallen asleep. I don't blame him. I want to sleep, too. But unfortanitly, I can't sleep a wink.  I got this funny feeling in the back of my mind . . . 

            Suddenly, there's an owl at the window, hitting the glass with it's beak. It's not a normal owl, though . . . Oh no, this owl had a snake dangling from its mouth . . . A snake whom worked with Tom.  My eyes widened carefully. It was a very important snake, an important snake indeed. Tom had this snake's mother for a pet when we were in school, and has been taking care of the family since then. It was most important because Tom usually could talk through it, so having  her was like having Tom here. That wasn't very good . . . 

            I slammed the window open, though not too hard, as not to wake up Harry. I grabbed the snake out of the owl's mouth, shooing it off.  I grabbed the snake and carried it into another compartment, one Harry wasn't in.

            "What are you doing here?!" I screamed at the snake, watching it slither towards me.

            "_Making sure you do your job." _The snake hissed, the cobra's head spitting at me.  _"I want that boy's head on a silver platter, and you're the best I've got. Don't tell me you can't do it." _

            "Change of plans, Tom. I've decided to give up the life of a Death Eater." I said, almost in a trembling voice.  Even though I've always seen Tom as my equal, deep on the inside I've feared him more than anyone else could.

            "_So you found out, have you, Richard? Found your grandson at last? Then know you understand why I must destroy him!" _Tom hissed, leaving me confused.  

            "No I don't see why you must kill him, or why you killed James, for that matter. And why do so many people know he's my son, and yet refused to tell me?!" I screamed, furious at my former best friend.

            "_Because he was your son. There was no way you'd support me if you knew you had family involved. I had to get rid of him. I meant it in best interest, friend. Which is why you must understand that you can't keep Harry alive! The child almost caused the death of me, I can't just let him live!" _  Tom did have a point . . . 

            "_You know I have a point. I won't fight you, Richard, because you are my best friend, and have supported me since school. But I will not stop trying to kill your pathetic grandson! I pray that you will see the logic in my words, and come back where you belong. It was foolish of me to send you to Dumbledore..." _A faint pop sound came, and the snake disappeared. I sighed heavily. This was definitely a hard time in my life...

***

            "Where have you been?" Harry asked, yawning. He had just woken up, but just soon enough to notice I wasn't there. 

            "Bathroom." I lied, sitting down on my side of our compartment. I believed me, sitting up straight. 

            "How much longer until we're there?" He asked, and I looked at my watch.

            "It will be another hour before we get to the station, and from there it will be another three hours before we get to Remus'." I said, no emotion in my voice whatsoever. Harry noticed, but didn't say anything about it. Instead he stretched, and muttered something that sounded closely like "Oh Shit," but I'm not for sure. He seemed in a daze.

            "You're troubled, Harry. What's wrong?" I said, glad that he wasn't asking me this question. He shrugged.

            "I had a dream." He said, starring out the window, looking for the right words.

            "Ah, a dream. Those do seem to cause trouble." He laughed, and looked back at me. "Tell me, what happened in your dream, grasshopper." Where did that come from? ...Oh well, it fit. 

            "Since when have you called me Grasshopper?" He asked, and I shrugged my shoulder before answering 'now.' He smiled, and then rubbed his forehead. Uh oh . . . 

            "Was your dream about Voldemort?" I asked, and he shook his head.

            "And you, too. You were fighting him, arguing. He said he didn't want to kill you, but he would to kill me. And then..." He paused for a second, looking out the window, and then back at me. "I woke up." I told him he was worrying too much, and that he shouldn't be predicting my death, he's only known me for four months, now I can't be getting on his nerves that quickly. He laughs, and we end up starting a game of chess. 

***

            The cottage Remus lived in was remote enough. About sixty miles from anything alive, more like it! Sirius must of had a hell of a time trying to find this place, being a dog and all. But I figure, Sirius is probably part of the reason its so remote. And the fact that Remus is a werewolf, but Sirius might have something to do with it. I stood there, knocking on the door gently. I can tell Remus is not use to having visitors, I can hear him yelling at Sirius to transform. I look down at Harry, who's pretty tired after having to sit down for so long, and smile. This was going to be fun, in a strange sort of way.

            Eventually, Remus opened the door. Man, the guy's a mess. Seriously, I think he has more gray hair than I do, and he's about twenty-thirty years younger. He also has a small goatee, and it does not fit him at all. He looks very tired and worn. His eyes grew a few feet, though, when he opened the door.

            "It's the end of term already?!" He screamed, looking back inside his house, and then back at us. From the looks of it, he wasn't ready for us.  The big black dog, whom I presumed to be Sirius, smiled before transforming.

            "Great! Come in! Come in! How have you been?" He said, looking a lot better than Remus did. His long, shaggy black hair a lot neater and tidier than it is in any of those wanted pictures. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I would say they weren't the same person.  Remus looked mortified when we came in. It was very obvious that he hadn't dusted in ages, nor vacuumed either. His house was a pigsty, though I figure that's not to hard to have, living with Sirius and all. Sirius was very happy to have Harry and I here, taking us inside and showing us the small cottage and where we would be sleeping. I still haven't told them that I'm Harry's grandfather, but that's part of the reason for the trip. Somewhere along the line. 

            "Please ignore the mess." Remus said, hiding his face from embarrassment. Sirius didn't help any, showing any and every part of the house, including the closet and places that you expect to be a mess.

            "Well, glad to know you're here. Your probably tired. Or hungry. We got some Egg Nog, if you want. Afraid it's spiked, so Harry, you can't have any. Um, we might a soft drink or something. Remus rarely shops, so there isn't much...How about some eggs? I can cook some eggs..." What I wouldn't give to have Sirius' energy...It seems to be driving Remus insane. Before I knew what was happening, Sirius and Harry were cooking a French omelet, making a complete disaster of Remus' already messy kitchen. Poor guy...It was a full moon last night, and he had completely lost tract of the days of the week, except when the full moon was. 

***

            "Your not a bad cook, are you, Sirius?" I said, a few hours later. Unfortanitly he's not very good at cleaning, which is what Remus and I are doing. Sirius and Harry are watching. (Helpful, aren't they?) I wouldn't be surprised if Remus tries suicide soon. Or kills Sirius...in fact, I might do that. Put the man out of his misery. Sirius seems to run on an endless supply of energy, and he's making Harry that way. The both of them should have never met.

            "Nah. Remus does most of the cooking. And cleaning. And bill paying. And working. And the list goes on and on." Sirius said, and you can tell he's being truthful. I think Remus' eyes are red...Then again, that might be because yesterday was a full moon.

            "And what do you do?" I asked, and Remus answered.

            "He does the same thing every day. He wakes up, begs for breakfast until I make it, and then he goes and lays on the couch, watching the same reruns of the same crap he watched in the seventies, eating whatever he can get his hands on, making messes and expecting me to clean them up. If he gets tired of the same reruns of crap he watched in the seventies, then he'll change into a dog and goes to sleep." Remus said angrily. Sirius looked at him with a puppy-dog face, until Harry started laughing.  We all looked at him, not getting it.

            "And what, pray tell, is so funny?" Remus asked, and Harry began laughing again.

            "You! You sound so...I don't know, adultish...like a parent of a teenager." Harry said, and Sirius grinned.

            "Yeah! And you won't let me help you do anything. Every time I try, you tell me to go back and sit on the couch." This time, I laugh, and so does Remus. 

            "I know. I'm just a perfectionist freak, let me be..."

A/N: So sorry, people, but it's 11:00 at night, and I'm still sick as a dog. I guess this chapter will have to be three parts, because I'm not writing anymore tonight. But at least I got this part done...Whew, I'm going to bed, folks...


	10. Christmas Part Three

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything.

A/N: Ok, I gotta clear something up. Frodo Baggins and Harry Potter probably aren't related.  I made that up because I was too lazy to make up something on my own, and as a LOTR fan I thought of it for fun. And if they are related, then God help J.K. Rowling! 

For those of you who care, the reason I haven't written in a really long time is because I am currently going through an emotional depression and server writer's block.  I have many good reasons for my depression:

1. My cousin died.  They aren't for sure if it is murder or suicide.  I knew him very well, and his death hurts me bad.

2. The government of my state is threatening to close down a number of small schools.  My school is on the hit list.  If my school does close down, I would go to a school far from the rest of my friends.

3. My aunt, the one person in the world I would give anything for, is currently going through depression as well. Her house is currently falling down around her, and she does not have the money to fix it.  

These are just a few of my many reasons, so don't expect many things for me for a while.  Please enjoy.

Family Portrait

Chapter Nine: Christmas (Part Three)

J-chan

            "He looks so angelic when he's sleeping." 

            "You do to, when you're a dog." Sigh, what was I expecting? 

            Harry had fallen asleep, seeing as though its three in the morning, I don't blame him. However, he was going to wake up if Remus and Sirius didn't stop arguing. How they live together I do not know. But I think Harry might appreciate it if I take him to his room. And I do...He really does look angelic while he's sleeping. I sat him down gently before walking back into Remus' living room. 

            "Ok, now were getting out the Egg Nog..." Sirius said, jumping over the couch to get the spiked Egg Nog, nearly giving Remus a heart attack while he's at it. I laughed. Harry did describe him well...like the parent of a teenager...Oh, does that describe Remus...

            "DON'T YOU DARE SPILL A DROP OF THAT ON MY COUCH!" Remus yelled, watching Sirius trying not to make a mess. He's actually sort of graceful when he tries. Sort of. 

            "Now, in your letter, Richard, you told me you had something to tell me and Sirius about, but couldn't in your letter. What was it?" Remus asked, sipping his Egg Nog carefully. This probably wasn't the best conversation to be having drinking spiked Egg Nog, but it was fate and you can't change that.

            "Alright. You win. No point in lying to you...Ok...I'm James' father." Remus' mouth dropped, so did Sirius'.  (A/N: You know what I've noticed? All the Marauders, save Peter, their names end with 's'. Sirius, James, and Remus...Weird...ok, back to the fic.) 

            "No your not. James never knew his father. He died or something when before James was born." Sirius said, just as I had expected him to.  I shook my head dreadfully.

            "Faith...James' mum, was very young whenever she gave birth to James, correct?" I asked, and the two living Marauders shook their head yes, not understanding.  "She probably hung out at a lot of pubs, right?" Sirius shrugged his shoulders, but Remus shook his head yes. 

            "How old do you think she would be if she was alive now?" Sirius' face turned to one of pure hatred. Unlike most living, breathing adults, he probably hasn't done any math since grade school.

            "I dunno. Old?" Gee, isn't he personal?

            "57, actually. Same age I am.  We were in the same year at Hogwarts..." And so begins a very long story...

***

            "So, your James' dad...His real life dad.  Wow..." Sirius said, sipping his Egg Nog carefully. 

            "Did he ever know?" Remus asked. I'm not for sure if he believes me or not.

            "No. I just found out a few months ago...I pray that if he did know, he would have at least told me. Then again, Dumbledore  seem to have known for a long time, neither of them made any sort of effort to inform me of my parenthood, so who knows." Hate to be that way, but it's the truth.

            "It's done him a lot of good, now that he's been dead for fourteen years." Remus said hatefully, leaning back tiredly.  I forget just how much that kid's lost. For thirteen years the poor guy molded his own mind into believing that Sirius is a murderer, and that James, Lily, and Peter are dead. Then he becomes a teacher, (why anyone would take the position without being forced is anyone's guess.) And has to live with the fact his murderous friend has escaped.  He also has to see one of his best friends' son for the first time in his life since Harry was a baby, deal with the fact that he's a werewolf and if any of the students found out, he might be out of a job again, and in the end find out that Sirius was innocent, and that Peter was still alive, (And a Death Eater, too.) 

            "Don't think too much on that, Richard. Remus is always hateful after a transformation." Sirius whispered in my ear, laughing a little.  I laugh a little to, but it might just be the spiked egg nog. 

            "Well, glad to know your James' long, lost daddy and all, but what does that mean for us?" Sirius asked, this time out loud.  Remus kind of gave me a curious gaze, wondering the same thing.  

            "I'm adopting Harry, and as his godfather/father's close friend, I thought you might want to know." I said, and Remus shook his head with accepting eyes.  

            "Your adopting him? Great! Glad to hear it" And so much more small talk began.

***

            "Come on, Sirius! If we miss the train, I'm going to kill you!" Remus shouted hatefully. A day later and he still didn't feel well, you can tell it on the man's face. Seeing as how Sirius and Remus didn't even know what day it was, they still had some Christmas shopping they needed to do, so we were all going back to Hogsmeade.  I told them that if they would have thought of that sooner, we could have met them there.  Ooh, I was going to hurt them!  But not Remus.  He seems to be angered at every little thing that moves.  He's not normally like this on days after the full moon, he's usually just tired.  So I decided I was going to talk to him.

            "Remus, what's wrong? You don't normally act like this, even Sirius has noticed.  Is something troubling you?" I asked softly, once Sirius and Harry were on the train.  He stopped, taking his breath in deeply, turned and looked to see if anyone was watching, and then looked back at me.

            "Two days ago I got a letter from my brother.  He's coming to visit in a few months." He whispered gently, his head hanging low.

            "That's good, isn't it?" I asked.  I was an only child, and would have wanted nothing more than a brother or sister when I was growing up.  I just don't understand how brothers/sisters fight like they do.

            "No, it's not.  I hate my brother.  We're twins, but we are nothing alike. At school he used to make me do his homework and be the center of a ton of his pranks, and I did it only because he threatened to tell the entire school I was a werewolf.  He was in Slytherin, and I was in Gryffindor.  He got the better of the deal, of course, due to the fact that half of my family has been in Slytherin. When my parents died, they left everything to him, when it was me who couldn't get a job and needed the money.  He became a Death Eater, and I spent half of my life trying to stop them.  We haven't talked to each other in fifteen years, and all of the sudden I get a letter from him telling me he's coming to visit? I'm a little more than worried that... that he'll kill me, or Harry, or reveal Sirius' secret.  You understand, right Richard?" He asked, shaking in worry.  I see his point.  Having a Death Eater for a brother must not be fun, considering I am one. Or used to be, I'm not for sure anymore. I shook my head yes.

            "I don't know what to say, Remus.  Except for the fact that you've gotten yourself in a bugger, that's for sure. Is there no way you could talk to him, try to reason with him?"  He shook his head. 

            "No.  He didn't leave a return address. And the stupid owl I have couldn't find water in the ocean." Remus said.  I knew Romulous Lupin.  It wasn't really that he was a bad kid, it was just that he hung out with the wrong crowd.  People like Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Evan Rosier...people of that sort. It seemed that once the Sorting Hat had put him in Slytherin, there was no hope for him. He hated Remus, with a purple passion.  It's a wonder he even knew Remus' name.  

            "I wish I had words of comfort, Remus, but I don't. But you don't need to take your anger out of Sirius and Harry.  Why don't you tell them..." Remus snorted in the middle of my sentence.

            "Sirius doesn't even know I have a brother. He won't admit it, but he half-heart believes that I'm a traitor.  If he knew my brother was a Death Eater, then..." Remus' face went cold.  Sirius turned up right behind us, a usual happy grin on his face. However, he seemed to hear a little of our conversation, so you could see curiosity in his face.

            "Come on, slow pokes! The train is going to leave!" We took his advice, and turned to leave.

***

            Hogsmeade was, and would always be, beautiful at Christmas time.  The snow fell lightly on the ground, making the entire place feel just as magical as it actually is.  We had all separated, because most of us needed to shop for the other.  We all agreed to meet in Three Broomsticks at 2:00, and it was high noon.  Harry and I were looking around at the different shops, talking about different things.  Finally, it was the right time to ask him the one question I've been needing to for quite some time.

            "Harry, what do you want for Christmas?" I asked, and he had a thoughtful gaze on his face.   He looked up into the store window, and back at me, his face innocent and free.  

            "A home for the summer.  Away from the Dursleys.  But you've already given me that, so I don't exactly know what to say.  Anything will be fine." That was sweet.  Sorta makes you melt, doesn't it? The light snow only made my grandson look more like the angel he really is.  I sometimes wonder if he really is an angel in disguise.  He's done so much good for the world as a whole...Defeating Tom...converting me away from my evil ways.  I wish there was something I could do for him. I know!  I'll make the kid the best damn racing broom in the entire world! One of a kind!  That'll be great...I wonder if Remus has any wood...Wait a second!  Of course he has wood, he lives in a stinken forest!

            Well, I got so carried away by my idea of making Harry a racing broom that I didn't notice anything around me. When my senses finally came back to me, I noticed something terribly wrong...Harry was gone!

**

            It took me a while, but eventually I found Sirius and Remus.  (Apparently it had been a while since Sirius had been in Zoinks..)  When I told them that Harry had disappeared, Remus went frantic. (I seriously question his mental stability.)  But that wasn't important right now.  Right now, we needed to find Harry.  How could I be so stupid to let my eyes leave him?  Especially with Tom as he is...Any one of his loyal subjects could Appartate (A/N: Is that how you spell it? I can't remember...)into Hogsmeade and grab him while I wasn't looking.  We looked up and down, to the left, to the right, and all the places in between Hogsmeade for Harry.  We even, (Me and Remus. Sirius barked.) Stopped and asked people if they had seen him.  Apparently, no one had.  

            Careless in my way of searching for Harry, I ran into someone.  I didn't even stop to say I was sorry, I just ran.  It was when that person called out my name did I notice.

            "Richard!" At that, I stopped, hoping it was Harry.  I turned and looked at the holder of the voice.  Nope, wasn't Harry.  But it was the next best thing.

            "Ron!  Listen, you've got to help us! Harry's missing!" The young Weasley's eyes widened.  

            "Missing? How'd..." I grabbed Ron's arm harshly.

            "That's not important now! Point is we got to find him!" Ron knew when to shut up.  He did as he told, running around the entire wizarding village with Remus, Sirius, and I.  Eventually we split up, trying to cover more ground.  About an hour later, we heard a distinctive bark that could only be Sirius'.  And I began to run.  

            I ran, too.  I ran faster than I've ever ran in my life.  I wasn't the only one.  A minute or so later Remus and Ron were running with me.  We ran across all of Hogsmeade, finally finding the large, black mutt in one of the more abandoned alleys.

            At first, I didn't know what Sirius was barking at.  It appeared to be a woman with a long, black cloak.  But then, as she moved, I saw what was causing Sirius to bark.

It was Harry, knocked unconscious.

            Ron and I were hovered over Harry, checking to see if he was okay.  Apparently he was still alive and kicking, but knocked unconscious by a powerful sleeping potion.  But Sirius didn't stop barking.  And the woman in the cloak didn't move, either.  Once we were sure Harry was okay, we stood up, eyeing the woman carefully.  Sirius jumped into her lap, barking loudly.

            "Geroff, Sirius Black."  The woman said, and for the first time, we could see her face. She was relatively pretty, too.  Long, flowing black hair.  Very pale skin that almost looked unnatural next to the snow.  Large eyes that were a beautiful color of blue.  

            Sirius stopped, shocked at how the woman knew who he was.  Ron, a little shocked too, walked towards Sirius, rubbing his snout like any boy would to his dog.  Remus didn't say a thing, but I had a feeling he knew who the woman was.

            "Don't even act surprised, Black.  Same to you, Lupin." She held her cloak close to her face, trying to hide herself.

            "Nara?  Nara Yin?  It can't be!"  Remus said, and Sirius barked a loud bark that could only mean the same thing

            "Why not, _Remmy_? This mutt you own is on World's Most Wanted list." She said, rubbing Sirius scalp playfully.  Surprisingly, Remus' face turned a wonderful shade of pink.  

            "One thing, don't call me _Remmy. _Number two, the reason I'm surprised is because your supposed to be banned from all of Europe." Remus said, and Sirius barked in agreement.

            "It'll take more than Fudge to keep me out of London.  I'd be a little more grateful about me, too, Remmy.  It was me who saved the boy."  Nara said.  That was a shocker..

            "Then I'm forever in your debt, Ms. Yin.  However, curiosity takes it place.  How did you save my grandson?" I asked.  Nara smiled.  

            "Death Eaters.  It was too dangerous to Appartate with such precious cargo.  Too dangerous to walk into Three Broomsticks and use Floo Powder.  They were planning to use this secret passageway," She said, moving so that everyone else could see the trap door she was standing on.  I shook my head yes.  As many of the times I had used that to get out of Hogsmeade, the answer should have been clear to me.  "The sleeping potion is a little of my doing.  I had planned to hit the Death Eaters, but I hit Harry instead.  He'll be up in a few minutes."  She said, grinning as she did.  

            "Tell me, _Nara, _what does a vampire such as yourself doing down such a dark alley?" Remus said.  Ron, whom for a second I forgot was there, eyes widened.  So she's a vampire, ay? That would explain the dark cloak and her looks.

            "Wouldn't you like to know, Remmy?"  She said harshly, and she turned to leave when Ron stopped her.

            "Um, ma'am..." Ron called out, just a little freaked out. Nara stopped and turned to look at Ron, eyeing him questionably.

            "Why are you banned from Europe?" He asked, and Nara's face eased a great deal.  She even laughed a little.

            "I bit a few people, one of them on accident.  The other two on purpose." She said, revealing her fangs.  Oh yeah, she was a vampire...  Rather than turning to leave, this time she walked up to Remus.  Much to my surprise, she kissed him lightly on the cheek.  Remus face turned, if possible, redder.

            "This isn't the last you'll see of me, Remmy dear." She turned to Sirius, and she rubbed his head gently.

            "I'd kiss you too, Siri, but I don't do dogs." Sirius licked her face playfully, and she pushed him down off of her.  She turned to me, Ron, and Harry, who was just starting to awake.

            "Pleasure to meet you, Harry Potter's grandfather.  And you two, curious." She said, placing her finger on Ron's nose.  "Take care of the boy. Voldemort is not through with him yet." And with that, she transformed into a bat and left.  This was definitely going to be a strange year...

**

            "Ron, why exactly were in Hogsmeade?  It's the first day of the holidays!"  Harry asked, fully awake.  Ron shrugged his shoulders.

            "I was planning on going home, but as it turns out, my parents are away on holiday in Whales, visiting some distant relatives of mine.  So now I'm here alone..."He sighed loudly, and Remus smiled.

            "If it's alright with the headmaster, you can stay with us at my house for Christmas." Remus said, and Ron's face lite up like a Christmas Tree.  So did Harry's.  Sirius barked loudly in response as we all walked up to the school.  Sirius, Harry, and Ron ran ahead, almost ready to pack Ron's things.  Remus smiled weakly, so I put my hand on his shoulder.

            "It seems to me, Mr. Lupin, that for the first time in either of our lives, we are going to live with a houseful of kids on Christmas."  He laughed, and I did too.

            "You gotta count Sirius as well.  He's like a kid times two.  Not a serious bone in his body.  Seriously!" Remus said, and we both ran to catch up with the kids.  

***

I woke up for one reason, and for one reason only:

            "SIRIUS BLACK! HOW DARE YOU PULL A PRANK ON ME? I DON'T CARE IF IT'S CHRISTMAS, I HALF-HEARTILY AM READY TO GO UP TO FUDGE AND TURN YOU IN, YOU MANGY MUTT..." That would be a very good reason.  And because it was Christmas morning.  

            I rolled out of bed lazily.  I slipped my glasses onto my nose, and I walked into the living room quietly.  Harry and Ron had awoke to Remus' screams as well.  All three of us sat there until eventually Sirius, (in human form) walked out of the back room.

            "Geesh.  All I did was spill a lot of ice water on him... And it was just to get him out of bed!  Come on, it's Christmas!" Sirius said, and we all laughed lightly.  A few minutes later Remus rolled out of the bathroom, wearing new clothes and his head was wrapped in a towel.  We all sat down, and in a few short minutes, Remus' living room was covered from head to toe in wrapping paper.  Only once everything was open did I speak.

            "There's something outside for you, Harry." I spoke lightly.  Harry, with Ron (Who was curious) ran outside.  Remus, Sirius, and I followed behind them.

            "Wow! A custom made broom!  Those are very, very expensive!  Who..." Ron yelled, and then turned to look at me.  I winked at him, and he smiled.  

            "Not when you make them yourself.  Go on, Harry, try it." I said, and he held the broom tightly in his palm.  In a few short seconds, Harry was in the air, looping around Remus' house.  He looked like a large blur, and I took that as a good thing. When he finally flew down, he smiled at me.

            "Thank you so much, Grandpa!  This is the best broom ever! It flies like..." And his voice wandered a little, complementing the broom I had made him.  I was happy for him.  I just can't help but wonder how long this happiness of mine will last...

A/N: Whew! It's done!  Finally!  Anyway, I need to ask you, the reviews, a quick question.  It's coming to the time when every fanfic author must ask themselves a simple question: Sequel, or no sequel?  That's what I want you to tell me in your review!  Please...


	11. The Order of the Phoenix

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything.

A/N: HOLY COW! FIFTY-TWO REVIEWS! Thank you so much for reviewing me!  Your making my dreams come true people! Especially those of you who are compassionate.  For those curious, my cousin's death was suicide, they've proven that fact.  On a more depressive note, my school is, more than likely, going to close down.  That sucks, considering that if my school closes, I'll have to go to a religious private school where I know absolutely no one.  I don't want to leave my friends! ::cries:: But, for a happier mood, this story is almost done! An epilogue ought a do it!  Be prepared, people, there will probably be a sequel...But that's a good thing, right? -__-

Family Portrait

Chapter Nine: The Order of the Phoenix

J-Chan

I was running.

            I was running fast...Faster and faster, until the world around me seemed like a blurred image of that which I can no longer remember.  But I needed to run...I needed to be that fast...I needed to be faster!  Harry's life was at stake!  So precious...my precious grandson...How could I ever let you out of my sight once again? So I ran faster.  I ran for what seemed like hours, until I slowly came to a dead end.  The end of what seemed to be eternity.  It just sort of..stopped.  Like a pleasant dream that you never wanted to awake from, but had done so so soon. The only thing that blocked me into that dark hallway was a mirror.  A mirror I knew and I didn't.  The mirror of Erised.

            I stood there, and I waited.  I waited to see myself.  I waited to see myself, with my grandson at my side.  I waited to see myself destroying Voldemort.  I saw the first.  

            I sat there, trying to figure out what the mirror was telling me.  So the one thing I desired above all else was Harry? So... I don't get it.  I stayed there for hours, studying my grandson's mirror image, trying to figure out what the mirror was trying to tell me.  It was only when I began to believe that I would never figure out how to rescue my grandson did the true image in the mirror reveal itself to me.  It wasn't Harry that I saw in the mirror.  It was James.

            Why? Why of all things was James the one thing I desired? What purpose did my son have in my quest to save Harry?  I could think of at least ten things I desire more than James, and that is off the top of my head.  

            Suddenly without warning, a large bird flew over my head, circling my like a voucher did it's pray.  It wasn't a voucher, though.  It was a phoenix.  

            I didn't get it.  What did James and Dumbledore's pet have to do with any of this?  What did it mean to me?  Slowly, my gaze went from the bird, to my son.  It was then that I noticed his mouth was moving.  No words escaped the mirror image, but the lips moved.  It took my a while, but I finally deciphered what he was trying to say.  _Order.  _

            James. Order. Phoenix.  James. Order. Phoenix. James Order Phoenix...What did it mean?  Was I supposed to know?  What dealt with an order, a phoenix, and a dead man....

The Order of the Phoenix! 

**

            When I woke up, I was dripping with sweat.  It was all a dream.  A strange dream, but it was still just a dream.  Harry was still alive.  He was still in his dorm with Ron.  Everything was perfectly fine.  

            I looked around me to be sure.  My dorm was the same as it's always been.  The walls were still the walls my greatest ancestor, Godric Gryffindor helped to build.  The floor and the ceiling was still the floor and the ceiling I had grown to know.  

            But something wasn't right.  There was an eeriness to the air, one I wasn't fond of.  It reminded me of the cold hideouts Tom used to hide in.  Uh...

            It was then when my thoughts went back to my dream.  Someone, somewhere, or just some power greater than mine, wanted me to revive James by the Order of the Phoenix.  I wasn't exactly for sure if I should do it. I mean, it was just a dream, right?  Dreams pass, right?  But not that sort of dream.  This was no ordinary dream.  It was a warning.  A vision telling me what to do.

            I had never believed much in Divination until now.  I had a vision.  I was going to bring my son back from the dead.  Oh boy, how do I get into these situations? 

            The Order of the Phoenix was a very, very powerful spell.  It was very similar to the spell Tom had used to bring himself back to life.  The order of the phoenix works like this: A powerful potion is made on the first day of a phoenix's new life.  It was drunk by the one you wish to revive's eldest relative.  Slowly, the small droplets that remain in the glass would begin to reconfigure themselves with the new DNA placed onto the glass.  Eventually, the glass would transfigure itself into the person who was desired to be revived.  The only problem with the potion is that when the phoenix dies, so does the revived one.  Another problem would be getting my hands on the potion ingredients, but I imagine that Severus can help me with that...

**

            "Professor Snape!" I yelled.  I figured he didn't hear me, because he was still walking.  I groaned, and continued to run into the dungeons.  "Severus!" I screamed, and finally he turned and looked at me.

            "Oh, it's you.  Well, come in.  What may I do to please the great Harry Potter's grandfather?" Severus said, taking out a quill, barely listening to what I was saying.  If it wasn't for the fact that I need him, I probably would have hit him at that point.

            "I need you to help me make a potion." I said, a little bashful.  Severus laughed a horrid laugh, one that made you a little afraid of him.

            "You graduated from Hogwarts, didn't you, Patterson? I trust you can do a simple..."

            "It's not a simple potion!  It's one of the most complex ever!  I need someone like you to help me do the potion, or at least, help me conjure the ingredients!"  Severus put his quill down, eyeing me strangely.

            "What sort of potion are you trying to do, Patterson?" He asked, his eyes narrowing as he watched me.  He knew I was once a Death Eater, and I had forgotten that he kept all of my secrets, unlike that git Malfoy. 

            "The Order of the Phoenix."  I said, a little out of breath.  I had held up my anger so far, and I would hold it more.  

            "Oh...I understand.  I will help you mix the potion, and I will even get you some of the potion ingredients.  But, for curiosities stake...who are you trying to revive?" He asked, and for the first time since my vision, I smiled widely.

            "Someone you don't like." I said simply, leaving Severus with a most confused look on his face.  I turned to leave, and as I was walking out the door, I replied simply: "I'll send a student to go get the potion ingredients sometime today, alright?" Today was a good day...

**

            "Ok, which of you are Snape's favorite?" I asked, and no one in my double Defense Against Dark Arts fifth year Gryffindors raised their hands.  Neville Longbottom tried to hide himself at the sound of Snape's name.  I sighed.  What exactly was I expecting?

            "Alright..er... Hermione, run this note to Professor Snape.  He should give you a box full of potion ingredients, so be careful not to drop it."  I said.  Hermione gave me a deadly glare, though quietly left the classroom.  I'm willing to bet she was cussing me out under her breath.

            "Uh, Granddad, what do you need potion ingredients for?" Harry asked.  The rest of the Gryffindors listened intently.  They knew good and well that they were my favorite class, and that they could pretty much get away with anything around me.  

            "None of your business, noisy.  But I'll put it to you bluntly, you'll like it." 

**

            Once more, I was running.  Running through the same dark tunnel that I had ran through before.  Only this time I could hear Harry.  I could hear him..He was in pain...Pain, and with it he was screaming.  I ran with all my hearts continent, until I came to a dead end, where the mirror and the phoenix had been a few nights ago.

            There was no mirror today, though. It was hidden behind one of the last likely people I would have thought. I saw Sirius Black. 

            And he was_ laughing._  Laughing, while his own godson was very near death! I could have killed him then and there, but I didn't.  Instead, I begged.

            "Please, please Sirius, help me!  Help me find Harry!  How do I get past this mirror?!" I asked.  I tried to grab Sirius shoulders, and then I realized it.  Sirius was no more than an illusion.  I looked in the mirror behind him, and I was shocked at what I saw.  Rather than seeing the Sirius-illusion, I saw a very large, black dog...

**

            That was the fifth time this week.  Why? Why did these dreams keep haunting me?  I was going to bring James alive, if only for a day or two...So? It was the best I could do, wasn't it?  But something told me it wasn't enough.  

            Feeling restless, I got up and dressed myself.  Today was the day.  I was going to see my son, for the first time in my life, with the knowledge that he was my son.  I was going to be wonderful.

            The potion was already made.  However, I couldn't drink it until today, when Fawkes was reborn out of the ashes for his first day of new life.  A phoenix's life lasts for three days: The Birth Day, The Awakening Day, and The Burning Day.  James would live until the burning day, and I was so glad for that.  Harry would be so happy...I still haven't told him about my plan to revive his father.  I think it would be good to surprise the child once in a while. 

            I took a look at my alarm clock.  9:30 a.m.  Not too early...In fact, I needed to be early, this Saturday morn. I needed time to talk to James without Harry, if only for a little while.  I needed James to understand that as soon as the three days were up, he would go back to the time right before he would die.  He needed to understand that fate could not be changed, and that whatever he saw in the future would have to be.  

            I put my cloak on, wrapping myself up tightly.  December may have come and gone, by the mist late January-early February weather was still chilly.  I walked myself out of my dorm, and into the kitchens.  I tickled the pear in the portrait, and I entered the kitchens.  I walked into the largest freezer, and I grabbed the large potion vial that Severus had put it in.  Now was the time, but not the place.  I left, and I walked into one of the deserted classrooms.   I lifted the lid of the vial carefully, so carefully as not even a troll could have disrupted what I was doing.  Now was the time.  I had to do it.  

            I drank the vial as quickly as I could, and I nearly gagged.  This had to be the most disgusting thing that I had ever tasted in my entire life.  I sat the vial down, and I watched it grow.   Amazing thing, isn't it? Transfigurations, I mean.  How something so meaningless can become something so pure and full of life.  I sat and waited until instead of a glass vial in front of me, there was my son.

            "James..." I cried, and literally, I did.  I didn't realize it until then, but there were strange tears running down my face.  He looked at me strangely, and then at the classroom surrounding him.

            "Where am I?  Last thing I knew Voldemort had come into our house and I was telling Lily to take Harry and run, and now...I'm here.  What's going on?" He asked, completely clueless.  I smiled.

            "Welcome, James, to the future."  I said plainly, and James' eyes widened to the size of his overly large glasses.

            "T-the future?  How..."  He said, running to the window.  He looked out of it, watching a game of Quidditch being played in the field over far.  

            "Do you remember, James, about a potion you learned, oh, in your seventh year called the Order of the Phoenix?"  I asked, and he shook his head, listening to me and ignoring me at the same time.  He was far too involved with the game now.  I laughed silently.  Somehow we men are instantly attracted to a Quidditch game, no matter what's going on around us.  

            "Would you believe me if I told you you were here because of that potion?" I asked.  Now I caught his attention.

            "There's no way!  The only way that potion works is if the person is..." His voice lowered quite a bit at that point.  I shook my head yes.

            " Dead, James. Your dead.  When you are sent back to your time, you will die almost instantly. There's nothing you can do to change that."  His eyes filled up a little with water, almost in disbelief.  

            "B-but Lily! And H-harry..." I pointed outside the window at the Quidditch match.  His attention returned to the game, but this time he was willing to listen to me.

            "The Gyffindor Seeker _is_ Harry, James. He lived.  You and Lily die."  He looked closer at the game, finding himself trying to focus on the Seeker in red.  He smiled widely.  

            "He-he flies well..." He said, chocking a bit as he spoke.  I smiled.  

            "Yes.  That he does.  Almost as good as his father, who was just as good as his father."  I said, and James looked at me oddly, like I was crazy.

            "Who are you, exactly?" He asked, a little harsh if you ask me, but all fine just the same.  I sighed loudly.  I was never the best speech giver, and this would be one of the most important in my life.

            "Your father, James."

            We sat there, and we talked.  We talked about a lot of things.  We talked about each other, we talked about James' mother.  We talked about Lily, and what Sirius, Remus, and Peter had done with their lives.  We talked about Quidditch a great deal, too.  Above everything else, we talked about Harry.  I told him about his son, and what would happen as soon as James died.  He didn't say it, but I could see it in his eyes: James was very proud of his son.  Just like I was.

Worst part of it was that we were being watched...

**

            I heard the door open, so I shut my mouth.  I motioned for James to do the same.  Much to my surprise, it was Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus.  (The two had come for Harry's Quidditch match.)  I sat there, and I smiled.  I watched as Harry's face went from red with sweat, to pale with a ghostly feel.  I watched Sirius break down and cry, too.

            "James, I would like you to meet your son.  Harry...This is your Dad..." He didn't need to be told.   Slowly he walked up to James, and I was worried for a moment, what he'd do.  He had a look of anger in him, but at the same a look of both hope and fear at the same time. After what seemed like forever, he fell into James' arms, and he balled. James did too. 

            "Dad..." It felt so good to hear those words uttered from Harry's mouth.  The word wasn't used near enough in Harry's vocabulary, and it seemed to fit him so well.  He needed the love and the nourishment that only his father could give him.

            "How..." He started, but James hushed him.  I think it gave James a lot of self confidence, to hold his baby, now a grown teenager, in his arms for the last time.  Sirius, Ron, Remus, and Hermione gave me the same look, and I mouthed to them the three words in which the potion was for.

            Remus, who caught on quickly, and Hermione, who was naturally smart, both smiled, understanding what I had done.  Sirius and Ron looked completely and utterly stupid, until the smart ones whispered into their ears what I had done.  The two smiled, and Remus picked up the camera that hung around his neck.  Harry wiped his eyes, and James did too, looking up at Remus' camera.  I got in the picture as well, putting my arms around Harry and James.  A quick snap, and Remus took our picture.  Our family portrait, you might say.

**

            "So your Harry's...girlfriend, right?" James asked, with all of us sitting around in the empty classroom.  Professor Dumbledore had came in a little earlier, but had now left.  Hermione sighed.

            "No, Mr. Potter.  I'm Harry's _friend_.  Not his girlfriend, his friend..."  Hermione said, and Harry's face turned a very bright shade of red.  Ron laughed more than anyone else.

            "Er, a smart one, aren't you?  You know who you remind me of, Hermione?" James said, and Hermione listened in closely.  Remus did as well, though he already seemed to know the answer.

            "A little bit of Lily, and a little bit of Remus." Sirius busted into laughter.  It was so...odd.  We were all here, and we all probably had a billion other things we could talk about, but instead we were cracking jokes about each other.  I guess that's James, though.  Not a serious bone in his body.  For some reason, now that James is here, now I feel sort of...complete.  I've done it all, I've seen it all.  I feel sort of, useless.

            "Ha! Ha! Ha! How true, James, how true!  It was bad enough growing up with two goodie-goodies like Remus and Lily, only to have my godson have one for a best friend!" Sirius busted into laughter.  Remus seemed not to find it so funny.

            "Oh really, Sirius? Is that how you feel about me? After all these years I've been lying for you, letting you sleep in my own house, and you think I'm a goodie-goodie?" Remus said, winking at Hermione.

            "Not like that! I mean, you're a teacher for crying out loud! You can't exactly be the Marauder you used to be!" Sirius yelled, not wanting to upset his friend who had done so much for him.  Hermione caught on to what Remus was saying.

            "Sure, Sirius! Remus and I believe you...Not!" Hermione said, and we all laughed our heads off.  Then, suddenly, it got really, really quiet.  Too quiet.  The wind began to pick up in the empty classroom, making a chilly feeling in the air.  The torches dimmed, and I felt a very insecure feeling of familiarity.  

            "W-what's going on?" Ron asked, and Harry shook his head.  

            "I'll go look." He said, and he opened the door.  For some odd reason, the feeling of dread overcame me.  This shouldn't be happening.

            "P-Peter Pettigrew!" Harry cried out, and we all, (Sirius running a little faster than all of us,) ran to Harry.  Only to see that he was..gone.  

            I panicked.  I usually did in such situations, I've come to expect it from myself.  Unfortanitly, I wasn't the only one.

            "It will be easier to find him if we split up! Sirius and I will go this way, Ron and Hermione can go to the left, and James, you go with Richard!  Come on!" Remus yelled, panic obvious in his voice as well.  

            James and I began to run.  Man, did I run!  The torches that once lit the way were now out, making an illusional feel to the dark corridor.  I had to save Harry!  He was the only thing that mattered, now anyway.  

            It was then when I realized why everything in this dark corridor felt so familiar.  The emotions running through my head were emotions I've felt elsewhere.  It was the same corridor that I have seen the Mirror of Erised twice, in my dreams.

            This thought only made me run harder, and faster, like I've never ran before.  Something somewhere was trying to warn me! Warn me about what, I wonder?  That made me and James run faster, for the safety of Harry was the only thing that either of us really cared about.  

            Suddenly, we came to a dead end.  The dead end in which I knew all too well.  Only, the mirror was not there.  Instead, it was four people: Lucius Malfoy, Peter Pettigrew, Tom Riddle, and my grandson.  Harry was being held down tightly by Malfoy and Pettigrew, and my anger grew louder.  

            Though not as loud as James'.  He ran towards Voldemort with all his heart.  He held his wand out, ready to strike.  

            "Don't you dare hurt my son!" James cried, and I pulled my wand out as well.  To my dismay, Voldemort laughed.

            "Thinking about killing me, are you James?  You couldn't kill me before, and you still don't stand a chance!" Voldemort said, waving his wand directly at James.  The killing curse...

He had just done the counter curse to the Order of the Phoenix.  A person can never die twice, and when they tried to, it sent them back to the time before they died.  I watched gloomily as my son transfigured into a glass vial.  

            My anger turned to rage, not only had he killed my son once, but he killed him twice! And in front of Harry as well!  So much for former best friends...

            "Tom, give me Harry, and I won't hurt you!" I said.  As I said before, it is very dangerous whenever a wizard is sad or angry, because they no longer have control over their powers.  That's what Hogwarts was originally for, actually.  Not really to teach them magic, but to help them control their anger.   I didn't want to control my anger.

            "How about I offer you a deal, Rich?  One even you can't refuse..." I listened intently, ready to hear any loophole in the agreement. I shook my head yes.

            "If you join my forces once more, I'll let your grandson go." He said, and I looked towards Harry, ready to bet if I did that, Harry wouldn't do so much as get out of the school before Voldemort tracked him down.

            "A little unfair, isn't Tom? I have a better idea, anyway.  We duel.  Winner get's Harry.  That's about as fair as we can get."  I have full confidence in my dueling ability.  I know I can win.  

            "Fine then.  Lucius is my second." Tom said, and I shook my head.  

            "Harry is mine.  Shall we do this properly, old friend?" I asked.  Whenever I said Harry was my second, his face sort of went blank.  I'm guessing he's not a good dueler, ek...Oh well, I figure if I die, there isn't much chance left, is there?

            "I suppose.  But just so you know, Richard, I don't want to kill you.  I just want you to see things my way, like you used to.  I'm sorry things had to come like this."  I smiled, remembering somberly why Tom was my best friend.

            "It's a shame, too.  But I guess what they said fifty years ago is correct: No Gryffindor and Slytherin can ever stay friends, can they?" Tom sighed.

            "I guess not.  Hey, do you remember that time when we were in..oh, our fifth year and we snuck illegally into Hogsmeade? Professor Dumbledore knew what we were doing," 

            "Tried to give us detention,"

            "But couldn't because he had no prove that we had done anything wrong?"  We both laughed. Peter, Harry, and Lucius all looked at us as though we were crazy.  Pretty much, we were.

            "Do you remember that time at the Quidditch match?"

            "Oh yeah.  I never was any good a Quidditch match, but you made me try out."

            "And you ended up crashing against one of the walls!" 

            "I would have fallen and gotten myself killed if you hadn't of saved me!" .We both laughed our heads off, until an uneasy silence filled the air. Neither of us wanted the other dead, but it was the only way...

            In a desperate attempt to unease the silence, I wrapped my arm around Tom, embracing him in a hug.

            "What went wrong, Tom? We were such good friends..." Lucius, Harry, and Peter, I knew, thought that we were even crazier than before.  They didn't know just how hard it was to give up a friend.

            "I don't know...I don't want to kill you, Rich." Tom said in a violent whisper.  I nodded my head in agreement.

            "I don't want to kill you either, Tom." 

            "But I want your grandson dead." He said, and I shook my head once more.

            "And I will do everything in my power to stop you.  Even if it means death."   Tom nodded his head, and we both stood there for a second.

            "Well, better get this over with." He said.  We both stood in front of each other, like you would in a proper duel.  We raised our wands, and Tom looked at me as though I was crazy.

            "Please, just let me kill the kid!  It would make things so much easier.  I swear I'll never kill another soul long as I live!"  I shook my head no.

            "I won't let you kill Harry.  Ever.  Now come on!" I yelled, grabbing my wand up right.  My anger slowly returned to me, reminding me that he was going to kill Harry, and that Harry is the only thing important to me.

            And our duel began.  It was like watching fireworks, for with every attack he hit me, I hit him back with a counter, as such.  Finally, he had disarmed me, and I knew at once I was done for.  I took one second to look back at Harry, and I mouthed him one word: 

_Love_

**

            When I woke up, I didn't know where I was exactly.  All I knew was that I was connected to a lot of wires, and I had just drank a thousand plus healing potions.  There was a ton of blood all over me, and I felt very weak. There were a lot of people there as well, a lot of them I recognized: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Remus, Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore...as well as a few others I couldn't remember off the top of my head.  

            I tried to move my mouth, but no sound came out.  It was nothing more than air.  I saw pieces of parchment and a quill sitting on the desk beside me, and with a lot of effort and energy, I grabbed it.

            "He's almost dead." I could hear Remus talking to Snape.  "There's nothing they can do for him.  If it wasn't for Harry, I doubt if he would have lived this long." He said, and he didn't dare turn to look at me.  They thought I was asleep, I supposed.  

            It has taken me many, many hours to write all of this down.  For a day and a half I've laid here, finding it hard to breath, but still my hand moving slightly with a quill.  I just want Harry to read this: This...journal of mine.  Because I know my last minutes are coming. 

Just to get this out of the way, everything I own will go to Harry.  Including this:

Harry, 

If you are reading this, then I will already be dead.  Don't cry over me.  I am no loss.  

            But you, Harry, you are great.  You've lived for nearly sixteen years, and up until my last minutes on the Lord's Earth have I realized how.  The Amythis charm your parents had kept hidden has kept you safe, but unless you find the actual charm, it's power can no longer protect you from Voldemort.  

This is my last good bye, Harry.  I can feel it in my bones...I'm dying.   I won't live for many more minutes.  I'll be surprised if I can finish this letter. Harry, I just want you to know...No matter what happens, I will always lov...

**The letter was never finished.  Richard Patterson died on March the twenty-seventh, at 3:14 p.m., with a quill in his hand, writing in his journal to be given to his grandson.**

 A/N: Oh my God...It's done...It's finally done...Somebody slap me! 

            I'm sorry if you don't like the end.  But I had to, you see.  If you remember the summary, it asks if Harry's grandfather would give up everything for him: The answer is yes.  So literally, he had to give up everything.  Including his own life.  

Don't worry, people! There will be an epilogue.  And a sequel!  In the epilogue you will see a thank you list to all of you who reviewed.  All fifty two of you! :) I hope I pleased you all.  If not...I'm terribly sorry.  I tried my best.  I'm so glad you all liked Richard.  I had never imagined him to be so well liked by the reviewers! Oh and by the way, that little bit of H/H was for one reviewer who requested H/H in the fic. It's not what you expected, probably, but it was good, no? 

THANK YOU IF YOU REVIEWED!  MAY YOU ALL HAVE A GOOD DAY AFTER YOU READ THIS!  GOOD WILL TOWARDS ALL OF MAN KIND! AMEN!

Love from: J-chan


	12. Epilogue: Family Portrait

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1D/C: I don't own anything.

A/N: (Be prepared, it's a long A/N.) Okay, first things first.  A thank you list: 

THANK YOU TO:

Angelika

dog-boy

Ice

DiOsAfu

Dark Blood AKA hermionegranger

Jessica Black

hi (byuenwehsl@aol.com)

(evposc@hotmail.com)

WeasleyTwinLover1112

kateydidn't

parselmouth

the*beaded*butterfly

starheart20

cattitude

BlueSkywalker_2000

P-chan

Luna Rose and Phoenix Child

Sweenian Birch

(virgo888@aol.com)

Erinamation-limited2-nothing

wellingtonboots

Mellisa

Katie

ChibiK

Lils

Hope Hart

Adam Johnson

Kota Dawn

um...

Jen

Sevvies Kitty

Anja

King Jasbon

Lady Lightning

Cil Celeb

If you are not on here and you did review, tell me and I will apologize. Wew...59 reviews and counting...

Well, here comes the epilogue:

Family Portrait

Epilogue: 

Family Portrait

J-chan

I'm not exactly for sure why I'm doing this.

            Hermione says it's because I miss him.  She may be right, I do miss him.  I miss him a lot.  Ron thinks I've finally gone off the deep end.  I'm pretty sure he's right as well.  

            Something, somewhere inside of me possessed me to come to the graveyard, and to bring with me my granddad's journal, which is what I'm writing in. Ron thinks I'm a nutter for even touching the damn thing. But...

            I don't know how many times I have read this: Over and over, wondering exactly what it means...Granddad, if your out there somewhere, please explain to me what you meant in the last line of your journal.  I don't get any of it.  

            It has been two months since he died, and I'm still not over the fact that he is dead.  It seems...almost like a dream, better yet, a nightmare.  I just...can't believe he's gone.  He was like a father to me.  He even brought to me my real father, if only for a night.  For that I love him more.

            I sit in front of his grave, like I have so many times before, and I weep.  Ron and Hermione wanted to come with me, but I wouldn't let them.  I need to be alone, if only for a little while.  Come now, I'm regretting it.

            When I first heard the footsteps, I ignored them.  Lots of people come to cemeteries, correct? Who am I to bother them? It was only when the footsteps stopped, and I felt a cold rush down my spine did I turn to see who it was.  It was the last person I ever wanted to see in my life.

            Now, when I think about it, I probably should of ran, jumped, screamed, or done something other than sitting there.  But I didn't.  Something inside of me told me that for once in his life, Voldemort wasn't trying to kill me. 

            "He was a great man, you know." Voldemort said, and I turned to look at him.  He wasn't dressed in a dark, bold cloak that hid him, but a nice shirt and some jeans.  Something you would have seen a muggle wearing, which surprised me.  If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn that he wasn't Voldemort, but he was.  I could tell it in his voice.

            "Yeah, I know he was." I said, and an uneasy silence came upon the gloomy gravesite.  It was a few minutes before both boldness and recklessness came over me, and I spoke.

            "What are you here for?  To kill me?" I said, a little too sarcastically.  Voldemort looked at me, and for the first time he looked remotely human.

            "Not today, Potter.  Mark my words, one day I will. By tomorrow I'll be back in a dark cave, trying to come up with another brilliant plan to kill you.  But not today. Think of it as you've got the day off." I smiled, still unsure of what was going on around me.

            "If you must know though, I'm here for the same reason you're here: For him."  If you don't believe me, I won't blame you.  But I swear to God his eyes were watering.

            "He was the first, Rich was.  The first Death Eater... My first supporter...  My first, and only friend.  And now he's...gone.  Damn you, Potter! If it wasn't for you, he still be alive, and at my side like he should be!"  He screamed, and my anger took over me.

            "It's your own fault, you know.   If you weren't so hellbent on killing me this might not of happened!" I screamed, jumping off the ground I had implanted myself in.  I should have killed him right there.  I had the chance.  I was armed, he wasn't.  But I couldn't bring myself to do it.  Why? I asked myself later on in life.  Why didn't I kill him, when I had the chance?  Because mercy is a bitch, that's why.

            "It wouldn't have mattered, anyway.  If he knew he had a family, even if I didn't try to kill the family, he would have quit.  He wouldn't have wanted you or your pathetic excuse for a father to be involved with the dark arts like he was."  For once I didn't get angry when he insulted my father.  

            I sometimes wonder if I had dreamed the entire thing up.  It doesn't seem real.  But I know it was.  Watching Voldemort break down like that...I must be the only person alive to have seen it.  It was a few minutes later before I left, but it felt like much longer.

            I didn't want to go back.  When I get back, I would have to go to the Dursleys.  I don't want to, but I know I'll have to.  Remus is talking about adopting me, but he'll have to confirm it with Dumbledore first.  

            I think I finally understands something someone had once told me: Love and Hate are the same emotion, but the way you express it determines what it is.  The same is for me, I guess.  One path I could be one of the greatest wizards ever.  The other I could end up being the next Voldemort.  I'm not for sure what to choose...

THE END

A/N: Waaaaa!!!  It's over! It's finally over!  But there's still a sequel, people!  For those of you who like spoilers, here are a little about the sequel, because it may be a while before it's up.

Will be called The Amythis Charm

Probably will be D/G for the simple fact that I need a good reason to get Ron mad.

Ron and Harry will get in a fight.

Remus and Sirius in it...Duh...

Ginny will be an important character.

Nara Yin will definitely come back, and maybe a little romance with her and Remus...

Someone else will die, but not as important of a character.

Is that enough to satisfy you guys until I write it? Good...  

I LOVE YOU ALL, WETHER YOU REVIEWED OR IF YOU DIDN'T.  THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FIC!   


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